How “Presumed Innocent” Production Designer John Paino & Set Decorator Amy Wells Brought Chicago to Los Angeles
Shot mostly in Pasadena and around Los Angeles, Presumed Innocent, showrunner David E. Kelley’s twisty and riveting courtroom psychological thriller, was able to do so largely thanks to the $12 million in California tax incentives allocated to the prestige drama from Apple TV+. “The crew we have here is the best I’ve worked with all over the world. They’re an incredible bunch of people; you’re only as good as the people you surround yourself with,” production designer John Paino says,
Remembering Malcolm-Jamal Warner: Questlove, Magic Johnson, Tracee Ellis Ross & More Share Their Heartbreak
The news that Malcolm-Jamal Warner passed away on Sunday sent shockwaves through the entertainment industry and the world at large, as millions of people who watched—and adored—Warner through eight seasons of The Cosby Show and followed his career after were deeply affected. Warner died in an accidental drowning in Costa Rica, the Costa Rican National Police told media outlets. He was 54.
The reaction from those who knew him and those who grew up watching him was swift.
“The Diplomat” Creator Debora Cahn on Refusing to Write Easy Villains in a World of Hard Choices
For Deborah Cahn, the journey from The West Wing to Netflix’s The Diplomat began with a simple encounter that revealed the extraordinary lives hidden within the foreign service. The former West Wing writer spent years cultivating relationships with real diplomats, ambassadors, and State Department officials, learning first-hand how complex the world of international politics was, and how much it demanded of the individuals who dedicated their lives to it.
77th Emmy Nominations Announced
The nominations for 77th Primetime Emmy Awards have arrived. The nominations were presented by “What We Do in the Shadows” actor Harvey Guillén and “Running Point” star Brenda Song on Tuesday morning.
The Pitt, Severance, and Andor were just a few nominated for Best Drama Series while Abbott Elementary, Hacks, and newcomer The Studio will vie for comedy’s top prize.
“Part Debate Club and Part Therapy”: Inside “The Pitt” Writers’ Room With Cynthia Adarkwa & Valerie Chu
HBO’s The Pitt emerged as one of television’s most gripping medical dramas in years by doing something deceptively simple yet extraordinarily difficult: following a single, brutal 15-hour shift in a Pittsburgh emergency room in real time. What made the series so compelling wasn’t just its relentless intensity or unflinching medical realism (the “floating face” fracture in episode 2 will haunt my dreams), but how writers like Valerie Chu and Cynthia Adarkwa managed to weave deeply human character arcs through the chaos of trauma bays and life-or-death decisions.
Dressing Despair in Paradise With “The White Lotus” Costume Designer Alex Bovaird
The White Lotus costume designer Alex Bovaird, along with creator Mike White, wanted to make season three of the HBO show bigger and bolder than ever. Although it’s a longer season with more characters and more narrative complexity, for Bovaird, it still always comes down to researching reality and bending it from there.
Every season of The White Lotus has seen characters attempt to escape their own reality by descending upon another culture and failing to let go,
How “Nobody Wants This” Creator Erin Foster Finally Found Success Writing About Herself
After 15 years of chasing what television networks wanted—workplace comedies, procedurals, whatever was trending—actress and writer Erin Foster had almost given up on her writing career.
“I had a lot of setbacks as a writer,” Foster says. “Some of those were like, ‘You’re not a good joke writer’ and ‘You write things that feel sort of like a play—it’s just people talking and there’s not enough plot.’ So there were a lot of times that I really second-guessed what path I was going to go down.”
Playing a Flush Hand: Inside “Poker Face” Season 2 With Producer/Director Adam Arkin
Few people in Hollywood have had as rich and varied a career as Adam Arkin. With decades of experience both in front of and behind the camera—from his breakthrough role in Northern Exposure to acclaimed directing work on series like The Americans, Justified, Sons of Anarchy, Fargo, Succession, and The Night Agent—Arkin brings decades of experience both in front and behind the camera to every project he tackles.
“Murderbot” Production Designer Sue Chan on Building the Brilliant World Around Alexander Skarsgård’s Conflicted Robot
Growing up in New Jersey with immigrant parents who ran a Chinese restaurant, Murderbot production designer Sue Chan didn’t even know the job existed when she first laid eyes on the futuristic movie that would inspire her journey into show business. “I basically decided to be an architect after going to see Blade Runner,” she recalls. “When I walked out of that movie theater with my family, I was like,
Case Closed: How Uzo Aduba Mastered the Art of Playing Television’s Smartest Detective in “The Residence”
From the moment the first episode streamed on Netflix in March, The Residence has garnered millions of fans and great ratings. There’s also been a growing fan base for its lead character, Cordelia Cupp, known as the world’s greatest detective by those surrounding her in this unique mystery dramedy. The whodunit comes from longtime Shondaland collaborator Paul William Davies (Scandal, For the People), and is inspired by Kate Anderson Brewer’s nonfiction book on the history of The White House and its staff.
“Duster” Production Designer Jonah Markowitz Brings 1970s Arizona to 2025 New Mexico
The moment writer-director-producer J.J. Abrams saw actor Josh Holloway pull up to a pay phone in a vintage mini-muscle car, he knew what his next show would be. Duster, co-created with LaToya Morgan and streaming on HBO through July 3, casts Holloway, revered for his role in Abrams’ ABC hit Lost, as fast-driving rogue Jim Ellis, whose entanglement with drug dealers in 1972 Phoenix warrants the attention of Rachel Bilson’s Phoenix FBI Agent Dana Hayes.
From “Seven” to “Karate Kid: Legends”: How Central City Association of Los Angeles Champions Downtown LA’s Star Power
Nella McOsker is the President and CEO of Central City Association of Los Angeles (CCA), an advocacy group for businesses and organizations in downtown LA. I reached out to discuss how filmmaking impacts local businesses downtown during a particularly hectic time, when McOsker, like the rest of the city, was navigating the recent protests that spread across the city. “There’s a way to channel what they’re experiencing or feeling and the values they want to uphold towards supporting small businesses,” McOsker said.
From Wakanda to Chicago: Riri Williams Returns Home as Marvel’s “Ironheart” Arrives on Disney+
When we first met Riri Williams (Dominique Thorne) on screen in Ryan Coogler‘s Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, she was a genius student inventor who had skills not seen since Tony Stark was in the game. Riri ended up becoming a massive ringer for Team Wakanda after they tapped Riri and her Tony Stark-level tech to help them in a moment of extreme danger—they’d just lost their Black Panther (the late,
Red Light, Green Light, It’s Over: The Final “Squid Game” Trailer Has Arrived
The games are finally coming to an end.
Netflix unveiled the final Squid Game trailer last Friday, unleashing one last look at creator Hwang Dong-hyuk‘s world-beating series. The trailer opens with a look back on the life of Gi-Hun (Lee Jung-jae), or player 456, and the happpiness he did have between gambling debts and the perpetual struggle to make ends meet, a happiness that’s been all but erased by the sadistic creators of the Games he’s been laboring in for years.
Fire and Frame: How “House of the Dragon” Cinematographer Vanja Cernjul Created TV’s Most Ambitious Dragon Sequences
While HBO continues to patiently plot out the contours of its expanding world of Westeros—A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms is slated for a 2026—House of the Dragon remains the only series to make it to air since Game of Thrones concluded in 2019. And in its two seasons, Ryan Condal’s Targaryen-focused series has achieved something remarkable: it has managed to carve out a distinct narrative path and emerge from the shadows of its predecessor with an identity and an aesthetic all its own.
The Wizarding World Takes Shape: HBO Announces Key “Harry Potter” Series Casting Updates
HBO’s Harry Potter series is coming into focus. Following the casting news of the core three—Dominic McLaughlin as Harry Potter, Arabella Stanton as Hermione Granger, and Alastair Scout as Ron Weasley—nine new cast members have just been revealed.
The new cast includes the Malfoys and Dursleys, crucial characters in the Potterverse. The first season of the HBO series will cover the events in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone.
Five Alien Nightmares Are Loose on Earth in First “Alien: Earth” Trailer
The first trailer for Fargo creator Noah Hawley’s Alien: Earth has landed, and with it, we finally get a sense of the massive scope and scale of Hawley’s ambitions for his adaptation. Once again, Hawley’s attempting to take a beloved film (or in this case, film franchise) and graft the essential components of its DNA into a deeply satisfying small screen experience, trading in adapting the Coen Brothers’ offbeat and singular sensibility for the grand,
“Black Mirror” Creator Charlie Brooker on Remaking Reality
Charlie Brooker is known for many things, and depending on whom you ask, you might get a different answer. In England, where Brooker was born, you may hear about cult comedies The 11 O’Clock Show, Brass Eye, or Nathan Barley, which he wrote, or maybe Newswipe, where he satirizes current events, or the fictionalized reality show Dead Set about zombies attacking the Big Brother house.
Lighting Alex Cross’s World: DP Brendan Steacy on Creating Cinematic TV for Aldis Hodge’s Determined Detective
Created by Ben Watkins for Amazon Prime, the crime thriller Cross feels more like top-tier cinema than a police procedural. Based on James Patterson’s “Alex Cross” novels, the series’ first season (it’s already been picked up for a second) is taut and moody, following D.C. homicide detective Alex Cross (Aldis Hodge) as he pursues a serial killer on the job while struggling in his personal life with the murder of his wife, Maria (Chauntée Schuler Irving).
Paul Giamatti on Finding Redemption in the Most Human “Black Mirror” Season 7 Episode
Seven seasons in, Charlie Brooker’s anthology series Black Mirror still gets under your skin. Usually, the load is heavy and dark, with characters’ lives driven to unambiguously worse places by technology we don’t yet have, but it feels like it may come frighteningly soon. But there’s one episode in this most recent season, Eulogy, starring Paul Giamatti, that stays in your mind for its emotional rewiring of one lonely man’s core memories.
