The following is a press release from Animal Planet:
Ready, Set, Pup! Television’s fuzziest sports competition and original adoption extravaganza is back and celebrating its 15th year, the biggest to date, as the world’s cutest sporting event returns to Animal Planet for PUPPY BOWL XV on Sunday, February 3 at 3PM ET/12PM PT. In years past, 100% of the puppies and kittens that have participated in PUPPY BOWL have been adopted to loving families. Animal Planet continues this tradition this year with a new set of adorable animals that are ready to tumble and fumble into their new homes across the nation. Tune in for this special two-hour event to experience all the fuzzy puppy faces from #TeamRuff and #TeamFluff who go nose to nose to win the CHEWY.COM “Lombarky” trophy at GEICO stadium. While we will be sure to keep score of touchdowns and puppy penalties, these pups playing the game are sure to go big and go home – with their new loving forever adoptive families!
This year, Animal Planet worked with over 50 dedicated animal shelters and rescue organizations from over 20 states and territories in the U.S. and made an international stop to Costa Rica, to get these puppies set for the big game. With a bigger game in store for viewers, audiences will be sure to find their favorite elements returning to the fluffiest game of the year including a front row seat to the pre-game rituals of these special pups via the locker room camera. Viewers will also get an up close and personal look at the game through the famous water bowl cam, the fan favorite kiss cam, aerial shots of the field from the TEMPTATIONS™ Sky Box, and a look at the touchdowns through the SPRINT cameras in the end zones. This year we go beyond fur-deep to find out what these adorable puppies are really made of, with a WISDOM PANEL™ Canine DNA Test. What genetic traits are giving them those advantages on the field? We tested them all to find out! The tail-gating starts with the PUPPY BOWL Pre-Game Show at 2PM ET/11AM PT, featuring aww-nalysis and cuddly commentary from sports correspondents, including the infamous Rodt Weiler with James Hound and Sheena Inu serving as pre-game show analysts. The first half of PUPPY BOWL XV is sponsored by STXfilms’ Ugly Dolls, with the second half sponsored by Illumination’s The Secret Life of Pets 2 from UNIVERSAL PICTURES.
This year’s PEDIGREE® Starting Lineup presents puppies who are also competing for the individual BISSELL® MVP (Most Valuable Puppy) by scoring the most touchdowns with dog-approved toys by CHEWY.COM. We’ll see familiar faces including America’s favorite “Rufferee,” Dan Schachner, who returns for the eighth year in a row to call the puppy penalties, furry fumbles and terrier touchdowns, along with award-winning animal advocate and television correspondent Jill Rappaport, who introduces the SUBARU OF AMERICA, INC. Pup Close and Personal segments that highlight some of the heartwarming stories of the adorable athletes.
This year’s Pup Close and Personal highlights include profiles of Olympic silver medalist and longtime animal advocate, Gus Kenworthy, who has teamed up with Muddy Paws Rescue to prep Sierra, a Staffordshire Terrier mix, to the right headspace before the big game; Violet Vanderpump, a Chihuahua/Dachshund mix rescued by Lisa Vanderpump’s very own rescue, Vanderpump Dogs; and our very own Ref, Dan Schachner, who joined The Sato Project on a visit to Puerto Rico’s Dead Dog Beach, where they rescued and rehabilitated numerous puppies and prepped for travel to the U.S. on ‘Flight of Freedom’ plane with at least 100 of Dan’s closest furry friends. Other in-depth profiles include Melody, a Chihuahua/Shih Tzu Mix from Memphis Humane who takes a visit to Graceland, home of Elvis Presley; Flo, a Maltese/Chihuahua mix who goes on an exciting adventure to her first trip to Del Mar Dog Beach in San Diego, CA thanks to the Helen Woodward Animal Center; and a special visit to Territorio de Zaguates or ‘Land of the Strays’ in Costa Rica, a dog sanctuary on acres of open land famous for the hikes that staff and would-be adopters would take with hundreds of dogs in tow!
Accompanying Dan on the sideline is his trusty rufferee assistant, Shirley, the rescue sloth who is keen to show off the slow-motion action throughout the game. We’ll also meet Shirley’s biggest & enthusiastic fan club – a group of loveable baby sloths from Costa Rica’s Toucan Rescue Ranch sanctuary. Viewers will additionally meet each of the team’s designated mascots – TEAM RUFF will be energized by an adorable trio of baby porcupines, while TEAM FLUFF has a charming capybara on their side for moral support. And don’t forget to check out the spectacular group of baby kangaroo cheerleaders who root for their favorite team from the sidelines! PUPPY BOWL XV will also feature three fuzzball special needs players that are looking forward to finding their forever home; including Pippi, a blind Jack Russel Mix; Bumble, a blind and hearing-impaired Australian Shepherd Mix; and Will, a three-legged Doodle Mix.
Midway through the exciting game, get ready for a purr-fect surprise with the ARM & HAMMER™ Clump & Seal™ KITTY HALF-TIME SHOW. Audiences will experience a show like no other as we celebrate the 15th anniversary in style with a giant pop-up cake, performances by Adam Feline of Purrr-oon 5, a fearless performance by the Atlanta Acro-Cats, and a spectacular domino display finale!
Fans will have the chance to watch an early premiere of the PUPPY BOWL XV Pregame Show on January 27 on Animal Planet GO. Broadcast of the event will also be available on GO in conjunction with the 3:00pm ET/ 12:00pm PT start time and unlocked at 5:00pm ET/ 3:00pm PT. Viewers will also be able to experience several mid-form pieces on GO including the GEICO “Kitty Tailgate,” a go-to guide for all things PUPPY BOWL XV; the ARM & HAMMER™ Clump & Seal™ “Road to the Kitty Halftime Show,” a behind-the-scenes parody video series where we will meet the choreographer, costume designer and the musical directors of Kitty Halftime Show; and the GEICO “Around the Bowl & Spot Center,” where a veteran dog host and his clueless rookie co-host commentate on all the latest PUPPY BOWL action. Crowds can flock to the Animal Planet and PUPPY BOWL Facebook pages while also following the action from players in real time on Twitter and Instagram. Audiences can also check out the PEDIGREE® “Puppy Bowl XV: Training Camp,” an exciting VR experience available on Facebook and YouTube where audiences will find themselves up close and personal inside the famous GEICO Stadium during training camp with these awesome pups!
Fans can also head to Facebook and YouTube for original social content like Dan the Ref explaining the rules of refereeing to his rufferee assistant, Shirley; UNIVERSAL PICTURES’ video of kids trying to convince their parents to get them a dog by discussing the benefits of pets, and another sweet video of kids explaining why adoption is the best way to get a dog. Viewers can watch the team mascots – TEAM FLUFF’s dashing capybara and TEAM RUFF’s adorable baby porcupines – as well as the assistant rufferee Shirley predict the winners of the AFC, the NFC championship games, and even the Super Bowl. Additionally, for the first time ever, Puppy Bowl will be featured on Snapchat’s Discover page where audiences can keep up with the day’s best moments with the “Puppy Bowl Highlights” Show, as well as ‘Our Story’ coverage of the PUPPY BOWL XV, featuring behind-the-scenes cuteness and more! A fan favorite feature this year is the PEDIGREE® PUPPY BOWL Trading Cards, where you can upload your pet’s own photo, pick 1 of 10 specialized frames, and add creative stats including “Favorite TV Show,” “Naughtiest Habit,” and more. Digital audiences are also invited to vote on Twitter, in real time, for the winner of the Most Valuable Puppy award at twitter.com/animalplanet and results will be revealed during the epic program.
A year ago, Animal Planet’s PUPPY BOWL XIV broke ratings records and was the highest rated Puppy Bowl ever with a 1.46 rating among Adults 25-54 in L+SD on Sunday, Feb. 4 from 3-5PM/ET (12-2PM/PT), up a whopping +32% from PUPPY BOWL XIII (1.11) on Feb. 5, 2017. More so, PUPPY BOWL XIV was the #1 social non-sports program on cable with more than 1.2 million interactions on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter and earned trending topics on Twitter and Facebook.
Official PUPPY BOWL XV sponsors include TEMPTATIONS™, CHEWY.COM, PEDIGREE®, SPRINT, BISSELL®, STXfilms, UNIVERSAL PICTURES, GEICO, SUBARU OF AMERICA, INC., ARM & HAMMER™ Clump & Seal™, and WISDOM PANEL™ Canine DNA Test.
Returning for the second year to Animal Planet is Puppy Bowl Presents: The Dog Bowl, the paw-tastic football competition for adult and senior dogs living in rescues and shelters, hosted by award-winning animal advocate Jill Rappaport. These fuzzballs are oftentimes overlooked by younger pups, but here at The Dog Bowl audiences can see these 63 dapper dogs and the amazing spirit they can bring to any loving family. Similar to PUPPY BOWL, The Dog Bowl works hand in hand with shelter and rescue partners (31) to create two amazing team rosters – Team Goldies and Team Oldies – as they matchup for their own furry football competition to score hard-won touchdowns in the ALLSTATE® nets to win the CHEWY.com Lombarky trophy. Additionally, 100% of the dogs that have participated in The Dog Bowl have been adopted to loving families. For Dog Bowl, PURINA presents the Starting Lineup for these special dogs who are also competing for the individual MILK-BONE MVP (Most Valuable Pooch) Award. Similar to PUPPY BOWL, these experienced pooches will also get a chance to find out what they’re made out of with the help of the WISDOM PANEL™ Canine DNA Test. Ancestry, disease screening and more! Audiences will also be able to enjoy the support of the featured tail-gaters of Dog Bowl II and winners of Season 7 of America’s Got Talent, The Olate Dogs, as they root for their favorite players. Get ready for an amazing match with these dogs who are eager to showcase that even though they might not be puppies, they are puppies at heart on Saturday, Feb. 2 at 8PM.
Throughout the program, audiences will see the SUBARU OF AMERICA, INC. “Dogs Life” in-depth profiles that shed light on a few of the amazing organizations and dogs as they prep for their road to Dog Bowl II. We’ll see profiles on Ronnie Stanley, an offensive tackle for the Baltimore Ravens, who is working with Maryland’s largest animal shelter, The Baltimore Animal Rescue and Care Shelter (BARCS), to hold a ‘Dog Bowl Combine Day’ tryout with three prospective dog players at the shelter to see who will make the cut to play in Dog Bowl II; Cadence from Nowzad, Afghanistan’s only official animal sanctuary founded by Former British Marine Pen Farthing; Iggy, who took a special flight to Dog Bowl II thanks to Pilots N Paws; and Marnie, the world’s most famous rescue dog with 2.1 million followers on Instagram known for her signature head tilt and hanging tongue, who is working paw in paw with California-based Paw Works to select which of their senior dogs will be playing in Dog Bowl II.
This year’s Dog Bowl halftime show is epic to say the least, with a special look at DC Humane Alliance’s ‘Barktoberfest’ featuring senior wiener dog races and Jill Rappaport reporting on amazing dog adoption stories. The Dog Bowl also features several social media senior celebrity dogs who made their presence known during the game including Mervin the Chihuahua (@mervinthechihuahua), Marnie the Dog (@marniethedog), Kimchi Kardoggian (@the_kardoggians), and Ella Bean (@ellabeanthedog). Dog Bowl II also includes several special needs dogs including Sutty a (three-legged Pomeranian / Border Collie mix), Anneliese (a three-legged Beagle mix), Wilma (a partially blind Chihuahua), Captain Will (a one-eyed Chihuahua / Shih Tzu mix), Mr. Bojangles (a Poodle/Shih Tzu mic who is also our first wheelchair player!), Elijah (a straight-legged German Shepherd), Gizmo (a partially blind Papillon mix), and Audrey (a deaf Australian Shepherd / Border Collie mix). These special dogs and more are all up to duke it out to win a touchdown and the hearts of viewers. Dog Bowl sponsors include MILK-BONE, WISDOM PANEL™ Canine DNA Test, ALLSTATE®, PURINA, CHEWY.COM and SUBARU OF AMERICA, INC.
PUPPY BOWL XV is produced for Animal Planet by Discovery Studios where Simon Morris is executive producer and showrunner and Cindy Kain is vice president of current production. For Animal Planet, Dawn Sinsel serves as senior executive producer and Pat Dempsey is supervising producer.
“American Rescue Dog Show” host Rebecca Romijn (Photo by Kim Nunneley/Alexx Henry Studios, LLC)
The following is a press release from Hallmark Channel:
Hallmark Channel’s second annual “2019 American Rescue Dog Show” presented by Pedigree premieres as an expanded, two-night event, Sunday, February 17 and Monday, February 18 (8 p.m. ET/PT) on Hallmark Channel. The special focuses the spotlight on various breeds adopted from shelters and rescue organizations across the country vying for top dog in the world’s most adorable categories. The “2019 American Rescue Dog Show” is hosted by Rebecca Romijn and Jerry O’Connell, who are joined by co-hosts Ross Mathews and Larissa Wohl as they cover all the action ringside and backstage. Guest judges are pet rescue advocates Bill Berloni, Debbie Gibson, Brandon McMillan, Mike Rowe and Lisa Vanderpump.
The “2019 American Rescue Dog Show” will once again highlight the heartfelt traits and benefits of mixed breeds and rescued purebreds, including Afghan Hounds, Corgis, Golden Retrievers, Huskies and many more. Categories include Best in Couch Potato, Best in Wiggle Butt, Best in Underbite, Best in Talking, Best in Snoring, Best in Senior, Best in Short ‘n Sweet, Best in Special Needs, Best in Smiling and Best in Belly Rubs. The top 10 dogs will face off in the finals where one proud pooch will be crowned Best in Rescue. In addition to the competition ring, the show will highlight the importance of fostering homeless dogs and adopting from local animal organizations.
The mission of the “2019 American Rescue Dog Show” is to celebrate rescue dogs in a personality-driven competition. The goal of the show is to shine a light on these incredible pets and inspire viewers to adopt their next dog from their local shelter or rescue organization. Whether already in homes or waiting to be adopted, these dogs are all heart and full of personality.
As the presenting sponsor, Pedigree is closely aligned to the show’s mission. The Pedigree brand has worked tirelessly to help support the transformation of shelter dogs into pets with loving, forever homes by donating good food for the cause, and millions of dollars through the Pedigree Foundation to shelters and rescues across the country. To that end, Pedigree Foundation will provide a total of $100,000 in grants to the winners’ shelters or rescues.
Serving as the show’s official mascot is the network’s own rescued and adopted pet, Happy the Dog. In addition to starring in movies and specials, Happy the Dog is a certified therapy dog and emotional support animal.
“2019 American Rescue Dog Show” is produced by Michael Levitt Productions. Executive Producers Michael Levitt and Jennifer Schulz are both animal advocates and rescuers whose lives are dedicated to increasing awareness of pet adoption. Levitt, an accomplished TV producer, and Schulz, a communications professional for pet brands and organizations, joined forces to create a show that is both entertaining and heart-warming. Their goal is to celebrate rescue dogs with the hope of inspiring Hallmark Channel viewers to adopt their next pet. Throughout the show, Adopt-a-Pet.com will be showcased as a great resource for viewers to find their next pet.
About the Pedigree Brand
The Pedigree Brand is the number one brand of dog food and treats in the world, feeding more dogs than any other brand. The Pedigree Brand offers a wide variety of products and formats for dogs at every life stage. The Pedigree brand is built on an unwavering glove for all dogs and a commitment to dog adoption. For more information, please visit www.Pedigree.com.
About Pedigree Foundation
Formed in 2008 by Mars Petcare, the makers of Pedigree food for dogs, Pedigree Foundation is an independent 501(c)3 non-profit organization working to help end pet homelessness. Through no fault of their own, nearly 3.5 million dogs end up in shelters and rescue organizations every year, and nearly half of them never find a home. Pedigree Foundation helps increase dog adoption rates with grants and best practices that support the good work of shelters and dog rescue organizations throughout the United States. Its vision is a day when all dogs are safe, secure, cared for, fed well and loved. For more information on how you can support the foundation, visit www.PEDIGREEFoundation.org
About Hallmark Channel’s Adoption Ever After
Working in collaboration with the country’s leading animal rescue and welfare organizations, activists, distribution and advertising partners, and celebrity influencers, Hallmark Channel’s Adoption Ever After aims to dismantle common misconceptions about shelter animals, provide resources, inspire the public to adopt, and ultimately create a future where every pet has a loving home. The initiative shines a spotlight on the countless lovable pets in our nations shelters through annual on-air programming specials like Kitten Bowl, Hero Dog Awards, and The American Rescue Dog Show, as well as strategic partnerships, consumer marketing campaigns, public service announcements, and grassroots efforts.
Larissa Wohl at the 2019 American Rescue Dog Show (Photo by Kim Nunneley/Alexx Henry Studios, LLC)
Lisa Vanderpump and Rebecca Romijn at the 2019 American Rescue Dog Show (Photo by Kim Nunneley/Alexx Henry Studios, LLC)
Ross Matthews (pictured at right) at the 2019 American Rescue Dog Show (Photo by Kim Nunneley/Alexx Henry Studios, LLC)
Larissa Wohl (pictured at right) at the 2019 American Rescue Dog Show (Photo by Kim Nunneley/Alexx Henry Studios, LLC)
A corgi at the 2019 American Rescue Dog Show (Photo by Kim Nunneley/Alexx Henry Studios, LLC)
Ross Matthews, Rebecca Romijn, Jerry O’Connell and Larissa Wohl at the 2019 American Rescue Dog Show (Photo by Kim Nunneley/Alexx Henry Studios, LLC)
With three prizes, the comedy series “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” was the top winner at the 25th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards, which were presented at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles on January 27, 2019. TNT and TBS had the U.S. telecast of the show, which was hosted by Megan Mullally. “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” received the SAG Awards for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series, while Rachel Brosnahan was award the prize for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Comedy Series, and Tony Shalhoub won the award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Comedy Series.
Meanwhile, the superhero movie “Black Panther” won two SAG Awards: Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture and Outstanding Action Performance by a Stunt Ensemble in a Motion Picture.
Rami Malek of “Bohemian Rhapsody” won the SAG Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role, while Glenn Close of “The Wife” received the SAG Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role. Malek and Close also won Golden Globes for their leading performances in these dramatic films.
Several of the other actors who won prizes at the 2019 Golden Globe Awards repeated their wins at the 2019 SAG Awards. They included Mahershala Ali of “Green Book” (Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role); Sandra Oh of “Killing Eve” (Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Drama Series); Darren Criss of “The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story” (Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Television Movie or Miniseries); and Patricia Arquette of “Escape at Dannemora” (Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Television Movie or Miniseries).
For the second year in a row, “This Is Us” won the SAG Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Drama Series. Emily Blunt of the horror movie “A Quiet Place” received the SAG Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role.
“A Star Is Born,” which went into the ceremony with the most nominations (four) out of all the nominated movies, was ultimately shut out and didn’t win any SAG Awards. Also passed over in the movie categories, despite having multiple nominations, were “BlacKkKlansman,” “The Favourite” and “Vice.” Shutouts in the TV category were “The Handmaid’s Tale,” “The Kominsky Method,” “Barry,””Grace and Frankie” and “Sharp Objects,” which each had multiple nominations at the 2019 SAG Awards.
Eligible movies were those that were newly released in U.S. theaters in 2018, while eligible TV shows were those which had new episodes that were televised in prime-time on U.S. networks in 2018. The Screen Actors Guild votes for the awards. Emmy-winning actor Alan Alda received the SAG Life Achievement Award at the 2019 ceremony.
Here is the complete list of winners and nominees for the 2018 Screen Actors Guild Awards:
*=winner
MOVIES
Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture “A Star Is Born” “Black Panther”*
“BlacKkKlansman”
“Bohemian Rhapsody”
“Crazy Rich Asians”
Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role Christian Bale, “Vice”
Bradley Cooper, “A Star Is Born” Rami Malek, “Bohemian Rhapsody”*
Viggo Mortensen, “Green Book”
John David Washington, “BlacKkKlansman”
Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role Emily Blunt, “Mary Poppins Returns” Glenn Close, “The Wife”*
Olivia Colman, “The Favourite”
Lady Gaga, “A Star Is Born”
Melissa McCarthy, “Can You Ever Forgive Me?”
Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role Mahershala Ali, “Green Book”*
Timothée Chalamet, “Beautiful Boy”
Adam Driver, “BlacKkKlansman”
Sam Elliott, “A Star Is Born”
Richard E. Grant, “Can You Ever Forgive Me?”
Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role Amy Adams, “Vice” Emily Blunt, “A Quiet Place”*
Margot Robbie, “Mary Queen of Scots”
Emma Stone, “The Favourite”
Rachel Weisz, “The Favourite”
Outstanding Action Performance by a Stunt Ensemble in a Motion Picture “Ant-Man and the Wasp”
“Avengers: Infinity War”
“The Ballad of Buster Scruggs” “Black Panther”*
“Mission: Impossible – Fallout”
TELEVISION
Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series “The Americans”
“Better Call Saul”
“The Handmaid’s Tale”
“Ozark” “This Is Us”*
Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series Jason Bateman, “Ozark”*
Sterling K. Brown, “This Is Us”
Joseph Fiennes, “The Handmaid’s Tale”
John Krasinski, “Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan”
Bob Odenkirk, “Better Call Saul”
Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Drama Series Julia Garner, “Ozark”
Laura Linney, “Ozark”
Elisabeth Moss, “The Handmaid’s Tale” Sandra Oh, “Killing Eve”*
Robin Wright, “House of Cards”
Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series “Atlanta”
“Barry”
“GLOW”
“The Kominsky Method” “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel”*
Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Comedy Series Alan Arkin, “The Kominsky Method”
Michael Douglas, “The Kominsky Method”
Bill Hader, “Barry” Tony Shalhoub, “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel”*
Henry Winkler, “Barry”
Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Comedy Series Alex Borstein, “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel”
Alison Brie, “GLOW” Rachel Brosnahan, “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel”*
Jane Fonda, “Grace and Frankie”
Lily Tomlin, “Grace and Frankie” Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Television Movie or Miniseries
Antonio Banderas, “Genius: Picasso” Darren Criss, “The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story”*
Hugh Grant, “A Very English Scandal”
Anthony Hopkins, “King Lear”
Bill Pullman, “The Sinner”
Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Television Movie or Miniseries Amy Adams, “Sharp Objects” Patricia Arquette, “Escape at Dannemora”*
Patricia Clarkson, “Sharp Objects”
Penélope Cruz, “The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story”
Emma Stone, “Maniac”
Outstanding Action Performance by a Stunt Ensemble in a Comedy or Drama Series
“GLOW”*
“Marvel’s Daredevil”
“Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan”
“The Walking Dead”
“Westworld”
Valerie Bertinelli (Photo courtesy of Food Network)
The following is a pres release from Food Network:
Families that cook together stay together, and those that do it well have the chance to win $10,000 on new Food Network series Family Food Showdown. Valerie Bertinelli hosts as families face off in a fast-paced, action-packed culinary competition beginning on Sunday, March 3, 2019 at 8pm ET/PT. In each episode, two families are pitted against each other in three rounds of challenges designed to test their cooking skills, recipes and family dynamics. The teams must blow away a rotating panel of culinary experts including Kardea Brown, Clinton Kelly, Antonia Lofaso, Daphne Oz, Jamika Pessoa, Christian Petroni, Courtney Rada, Jake and Jazz Smollet, Tori Spelling, Jet Tila, Isaac Toups, Bryan and Michael Voltaggio, Molly Yeh and more, to keep their family pride and take home the grand prize!
“Family Food Showdown has all the ingredients to captivate audiences with tension and unpredictable twists, mixed with family heritage and tradition, and even some comedic relief, as the families cook together on the clock in a high-stakes showdown,” said Courtney White, President, Food Network. “Host Valerie Bertinelli adds in her signature charisma and charm to this relatable family-centric culinary competition.”
The action unfolds as two families, comprised of three family members, endure three rounds of cooking challenges with surprising curveballs as they vie for advantages along the way. Throughout 13 hourlong episodes, the competing teams tackle challenges from Sunday suppers and delicious leftover dinners, to taco fiestas, and over-the-top breakfasts in their bid for the grand prize.
During the first round, the families must work together to create a dish that represents who they are as a family. As the competition progresses to round two, family recipes and dynamics are put to the test when Valerie announces that each family must eliminate one member of their own team. Strategy ups the ante in the last round of the contest, as each team must eliminate someone from the other team, putting the weight of the competition on the shoulders of one final family member for each. Only one family in each episode will earn $10,000 grand prize and keep their family pride.
Fans can get to know the families before every episode on Food Network’s app as they take on a series of digital-only challenges and can catch Valerie and the judges play a series of Beat the Heat games on Food Network’s Instagram Stories. Also viewers can go behind the scenes of the competition with insider photos and top video moments at FoodNetwork.com/FamilyFoodShowdown, and join the conversation anytime by using #FamilyFoodShowdown.
# # #
FOOD NETWORK (www.foodnetwork.com) is a unique lifestyle network, website and magazine that connects viewers to the power and joy of food. The network strives to be viewers’ best friend in food and is committed to leading by teaching, inspiring, empowering and entertaining through its talent and expertise. Food Network is distributed to nearly 100 million U.S. households and draws over 46 million unique web users monthly. Since launching in 2009, Food Network Magazine’s rate base has grown 13 times and is the No. 2 best-selling monthly magazine on the newsstand, with 13.5 million readers. Food Network is owned by Discovery, Inc., a global leader in real life entertainment spanning 220 countries and territories; the portfolio also includes Discovery Channel, HGTV, TLC, Investigation Discovery, and OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network.
Yalitza Aparicio in “Roma” (Photo by Alfonso Cuarón)Rachel Weisz and Olivia Colman in “The Favourite” (Photo by Yorgos Lanthimos)
With 10 nominations each, including Best Picture, the Spanish-language drama “Roma” and the British dark comedy “The Favourite” are the leading nominees for the 91st Academy Awards, which will take place at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles on February 24, 2019. There is no host for the show, following the controversy over Kevin Hart quitting the job over his past homophobic remarks, as well as disagreements over his public apologies for those remarks. ABC will have the U.S. telecast of the Academy Awards ceremony, which is presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Actor/screenwriter Kumail Nanjiani and actress Tracee Ellis Ross announced the nominations on January 22 at the Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Beverly Hills, California.
Netflix’s “Roma” is inspired by filmmaker Alfonso Cuarón’s childhood in early 1970s Mexico, as seen through the perspective of his family’s nanny/housekeeper. Fox Searchlight’s “The Favourite,” set in the early 1700s, tells the story of Great Britain’s Queen Anne and two women who compete for her affections.
As of 2010, the Academy can nominate up to 10 movies for Best Picture. This year, there are only eight movies that made the list: In addition to “Roma” and “The Favourite,” the other Best Picture contenders are “BlacKkKlansman,” “Black Panther,” “Bohemian Rhapsody,” “Green Book,” “A Star Is Born” and “Vice.” Of those contenders, “A Star is Born” and “Vice” have eight nominations each; “Black Panther” scored seven nods; “BlacKkKlansman” has six nominations; and “Green Book” and “Bohemian Rhapsody” received five nods each.
In the categories for actors, actresses and directors, most of the contenders are those who have been the same nominees or winners at other award shows leading up to the Oscars. However, there were some nominations that were not widely predicted.
Snubs and Surprises
Bradley Cooper (pictured at left) on the set of “A Star Is Born” (Photo by Clay Enos)
The Oscars can always be counted on to have some nominations that are very different from the other major movie awards. The biggest snub was Bradley Cooper of “A Star Is Born” being shut out of the Best Director category, even though he was nominated for that prize at just about every other award show where movies from major studios are eligible. (Cooper’s 2018 remake of “A Star Is Born” was released by Warner Bros. Pictures.) Cooper, who made his directorial debut with “A Star Is Born,” still received three Oscar nominations for the movie: Best Picture, Best Actor and Best Adapted Screenplay. (He’s also one of the movie’s producers and screenwriters.)
The biggest surprises were the nominations for the two main actresses from “Roma”: Yalitza Aparicio (for Best Actress) and Marina de Tavira (for Best Supporting Actress). Aparicio, who made her film debut in “Roma,” got very little recognition on the awards circuit leading up to the Oscars: She picked up a Critics’ Choice nomination and won a Hollywood Film Award for her role in the movie, but she was passed over for nominations at just about all the other movie award shows. Meanwhile, de Tavira was completely shut out of being nominated at all other major U.S.-based movie award shows until the Oscars.
Another big surprise was Paweł Pawlikowski getting a Best Director nomination for his Polish-language “Cold War,” which is, just like “Roma,” a period movie filmed in black-and-white in a non-English language and distributed by a streaming service. (Amazon is distributing “Cold War.”) Pawlikowski’s nomination for Best Director was also unusual because it’s rare for someone to get an Oscar nomination for Best Director for a movie that is not nominated for Best Picture. In addition to Pawlikowski, the other Best Director nominees are Spike Lee for “BlacKkKlansman”; Yorgos Lanthimos for “The Favourite”; Alfonso Cuarón for “Roma”; and Adam McKay for “Vice.” “Cold War” had been widely predicted to get Oscar nominations for Best Foreign-Language Film and Best Cinematography, and the movie did get those nods, but it’s got stiff competition from “Roma” in all of those categories.
Amazon Studios’ robust awards campaign for Timothée Chalamet and his supporting role in the drug-addiction drama “Beautiful Boy” seemed to be paying off, since he was getting nominated at several award shows, but Chalamet and “Beautiful Boy” were ultimately shut out of the Oscar race. And so was another buzzworthy “based on a true story” drama about a troubled teenage son: Focus Features’ “Boy Erased,” starring Lucas Hedges, Nicole Kidman and Russell Crowe as a family affected by the controversial practices of gay-conversion therapy.
Ethan Hawke in “First Reformed” (Photo courtesy of A24)
Ethan Hawke won the majority of critics’ awards for Best Actor for his role in A24’s “First Reformed,” but he was shut out of the Oscar race for the movie. Although he was a critics’ darling, Hawke did very little awards campaigning for the movie, which probably hurt his chances of being nominated for an Oscar. (He was also snubbed this year by the Screen Actors Guild Awards and Golden Globe Awards.) Instead, the only Oscar nomination for writer/director Paul Schrader’s “First Reformed” was Best Original Screenplay.
Horror movies are typically overlooked by the Academy Awards (2017’s “Get Out” was one of the few exceptions), and this year continued that snubbing pattern, with critically acclaimed “A Quiet Place”from Paramount Pictures getting just one nomination (Best Sound Editing) and A24’s “Hereditary” (which had its share of passionate fans and detractors) getting completely shut out of the race.
It hasn’t been a good Oscar year for independent film distributor A24, which previously scored Oscar gold for 2016’s “Moonlight,” winner of the prizes for Best Picture, Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Supporting Actor. A24 lost some of its Oscar momentum for its movies released in 2017: “Lady Bird” received five Oscar nominations but no Oscar wins, while the Oscar campaign for “The Disaster Artist” imploded when the movie’s star/director James Franco was accused of sexual misconduct by multiple women during the final week of Oscar nomination voting. Franco was snubbed by the Academy for “The Disaster Artist,” and the movie ended up with only one Oscar nomination: Best Adapted Screenplay, for writers Scott Neustadter and Michael H. Weber. This year, A24’s “Hereditary” and the critically acclaimed teen comedy “Eighth Grade” were completely shut out for Oscar nominations, while A24’s only Oscar nod for a 2018 movie was for the previously mentioned Best Original Screenplay nomination for “First Reformed.”
As streaming services such as Netflix, Amazon and Hulu continue to increase their clout in the movie industry, traditional independent studios are struggling to keep up with getting hit movies and major awards. A24 isn’t the only independent studio whose awards influence has faded for movies released in 2018. Neon hit a home run in its first year in business with 2017’s “I, Tonya,” which scooped up several major awards (including an Oscar) for Allison Janney’s supporting performance. However, Neon’s 2018 movies have mostly been passed over for winning awards: The Natalie Portman music-oriented drama “Vox Lux” and the documentary “Three Identical Strangers” were Neon’s biggest awards hopefuls of the year, but those two films have been completely shut out of Oscar nominations. Neon’s only Oscar nod for a 2018 film is Best Makeup and Hairstyling for the troll movie “Border,” which has tough competition with category frontrunner “Vice.”
Emily Blunt in “Mary Poppins Returns” (Photo by Jay Maidment/Disney Enterprises, Inc.)
Disney’s musical sequel “Mary Poppins Returns” didn’t get Oscar nominations for Best Picture, lead actress Emily Blunt and supporting actor Lin-Manuel Miranda, but the movie got expected nominations for Best Production Design, Best Costume Design, Best Original Score and Best Original Song.
Universal Pictures’ “First Man,” which depicts astronaut Neil Armstrong’s journey to being the first man on the moon, started out strong after getting rave reviews at the 2018 Venice Film Festival, but Oscar buzz for “First Man” (starring Ryan Gosling as Armstrong) considerably faded after the movie fizzled at the box office and got snubbed in most of the major categories at several award shows. Best Original Score was the only category for which “First Man” was winning the most awards leading up to the Oscars. The prizes for “First Man” composer Justin Hurwitz included a Golden Globe and Critics’ Choice Award. Therefore, it was surprising that he didn’t get an Oscar nomination in this category. “First Man” did receive four Oscar nods, but only in technical categories: Best Production Design, Best Sound Editing, Best Sound Mixing and Best Visual Effects. “First Man” was director Damien Chazelle’s follow-up to his award-winning hit “La La Land” (which won six Oscars, including Best Director), so “First Man” getting snubbed in the biggest Oscar categories is a big step down for Chazelle.
Focus Features’ “Won’t You Be My Neighbor?,” the Fred Rogers biography directed by Morgan Neville, was widely predicted as the frontrunner for Best Documentary Feature because the movie had been winning most of the documentary awards up until this point, but the movie failed to get an Oscar nomination. Instead, “Of Fathers and Sons,” a movie about a radical Islamist family, received a surprise Oscar nomination, after being passed over for nominations at every other major award show that gives prizes to documentary feature films. So why the Oscar snub for “Won’t You Be My Neighbor?” The Academy tends to reward documentaries that have a great deal of original footage (in other words, not relying too heavily on archived footage), and the Academy voters prefer investigative documentaries that uncover a lot of information that was not widely known to the general public. “Won’t You Be My Neighbor?” was undoubtedly a feel-good popular movie, but perhaps Academy voters considered it to be too much of a safe and conventional documentary where the filmmakers didn’t challenge themselves enough, beyond collecting archived footage and getting authorized interviews with Rogers’ family and colleagues.
Despite all the hoopla over the romantic comedy “Crazy Rich Asians,” the movie was completely shut out of the Oscar race. Warner Bros. Pictures’ “Crazy Rich Asians,” which was a big international hit, was the first major Hollywood studio movie to have an all-Asian cast since 1993’s “The Joy Luck Club.” “Crazy Rich Asians” got mostly positive reviews from critics, but the movie’s formulaic plot with over-used clichés seem to have severely hurt its chances of being taken seriously by Oscar voters.
In other categories, surprises included the German film “Never Look Away” (distributed in the U.S. by Sony Pictures Classics) getting nominations for Best Foreign-Language Film and Best Cinematography after being passed over for those nominations at almost all of the other movie award shows. The Academy rewarded “Never Look Away” with Oscar nominations, but snubbed South Korea’s “Burning” for Best Foreign-Language Film and “Black Panther” for Best Cinematography, even though “Burning” and “Black Panther” scored those nominations at several other award shows.
Diversity Issues
Lupita Nyong’o, Chadwick Boseman and Danai Gurira in “Black Panther” (Photo courtesy of Disney/Marvel Studios)
Ever since the #OscarsSoWhite backlash of 2015 and 2016, the Academy has been under intense scrutiny over diversity issues when it comes to race and gender. (Most of the Academy members and Oscar nominees are white males.) The Academy has made public efforts to invite more women and people of color into its membership in recent years. There has been a little more diversity, in terms of who gets nominated for Oscars, but there is still a long way to go for most of the behind-the-scenes technical categories, such as editing, visual effects, original score and cinematography. The good news for Oscar diversity in 2019 is that there is at least one person of color nominated in each of the four acting categories. In addition, several women and people of color are nominated in the category of Best Picture, an award that goes to a film’s producer(s). They are Jordan Peele and Spike Lee (African-American males) for “BlacKkKlansman”; and Ceci Dempsey and Lee Magiday (white females) for “The Favourite”; Gabriela Rodríguez and Alfonso Cuarón (Latinos) for “Roma”; Lynette Howell Taylor (white female) for “A Star Is Born”; and Dede Gardner (white female) for “Vice.”
In other gender-neutral Oscar categories, women did not make much progress, compared to the 2018 Academy Awards. In 2019, there were no women nominated in the Oscar categories of Best Director, Best Cinematography, Best Film Editing and Best Original Score. (In 2018, the categories of Best Director, Best Cinematography and Best Film Editing each had one female nominee, while Best Original Score continued to have only male nominees.) And in the categories of Best Original Screenplay and Best Adapted Screenplay, only one woman was nominated in each category in 2019, and they share the nomination with a man.
The categories for Best Costume Design and Best Makeup and Hairstyling have traditionally been dominated by women. All of this year’s nominees for Best Costume Design are female, while women are 62.5 percent of this year’s Best Makeup and Hairstyling nominees. The gender-neutral categories that have the most gender parity this year are Best Production Design, Best Original Song and Best Documentary Feature, where women are almost half of the nominees in each category.
Hannah Beachler of “Black Panther” became the first African-American to get an Oscar nomination for Best Production Design. African-Americans earned other rare nominations in categories that are typically dominated by white/Caucasian filmmakers: “BlacKkKlansman” had the most nominations this year for black filmmakers: Spike Lee earned three nods as a director, producer and screenwriter, while producer Jordan Peele, screenwriter Kevin Willmott and composer Terence Blanchard were also nominated for the movie. “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse” co-director Peter Ramsey is among the nominees for Best Animated Feature; costume designer Ruth E. Carter is a contender for “Black Panther”; and Barry Jenkins of “If Beale Street Could Talk” is up for Best Adapted Screenplay, an Oscar that he won for 2016’s “Moonlight,” making him only the third black person to win an Oscar in that category. Other black Oscar nominees this year are Kendrick Lamar, Solana Rowe (also known as SZA), Mark Spears and Anthony Tiffith, who all co-wrote Best Original Song nominee “All the Stars” from “Black Panther.”
“Roma” was the movie that gave Latinos the most representation at this year’s Academy Awards, and “Roma” is expected to win multiple Oscars. In addition to Cuarón and actresses Aparicio and de Tavira, other “Roma” Oscar nominees are producer Gabriela Rodríguez (Best Picture and Best Foreign Language Film); Sergio Diaz (Best Sound Editing); José Antonio García (Best Sound Mixing);and Eugenio Caballero and Bárbara Enríquez (Best Production Design), It’s also worth noting that three Mexican directors (Cuarón, Alejandro González Iñárritu and Guillermo del Toro) have won several of the Best Director awards in the 2010s decade. Cuarón, who is the frontrunner to win for “Roma,” previously won the Best Director prize for 2013’s “Gravity”; Iñárritu won for 2014’s “Birdman” and 2015’s “The Revenant”‘; and del Toro won for 2017’s “The Shape of Water.”
Even though “Crazy Rich Asians” didn’t get any Oscar nominations, that doesn’t mean that Asians were completely snubbed by the Academy this year. Asians who received Oscar nominations include cinematographer Matthew Libatique for “A Star Is Born”; director Mamoru Hosoda and producer Yuichiro Saito for the animated film “Mirai”; director Hirokazu Kore-eda, who scored a Best Foreign-Language Film nod for Japan’s “Shoplifters”; and director Bobby Pontillas, who earned a Best Animated Short nomination for co-directing “One Small Step.” The category of Best Documentary Feature had the highest Asian representation, with directors/producers Jimmy Chin and Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi for “Free Solo”; director/producer Bing Liu and producer Diane Quon for “Minding the Gap”; director Talal Derki (who is of Syrian/Middle Eastern descent) for “Of Fathers and Sons”; and producer Su Kim for “Hale County This Morning, This Evening.”
Notable Milestones
Alfonso Cuarón and Yalitza Aparicio on the set of “Roma” (Photo by Carlos Somonte/Netflix)
The 2019 Oscar race has several milestones. “Roma” is the first Netflix movie to get an Oscar nomination for Best Picture, although it’s not the first streaming service to score a nomination in that category. That milestone was achieved by Amazon’s 2016 drama “Manchester by the Sea,” which went on to win Best Actor (for Casey Affleck) and Best Original Screenplay (for Kenneth Lonergan). Netflix won its first Oscar for the 2017 documentary feature film “Icarus.” If “Roma” wins Best Picture, it will be not only be the first movie from a streaming service to win Best Picture at the Oscars, but also the first non-English-language movie to win the prize.
As widely predicted, Marvel Studios’ “Black Panther” was nominated for Best Picture, making it the first superhero movie to be nominated in this Oscar category. However, with no Oscar nominations in the categories for acting, directing or screenplay, “Black Panther” is a long shot to win Best Picture. The other Oscar nominations for “Black Panther” are for Best Costume Design, Best Production Design, Best Sound Editing, Best Sound Mixing, Best Original Score and Best Original Song.
“BlacKkKlansman” filmmaker Spike Lee, who has been making critically acclaimed movies since the 1980s, received his first Oscar nomination for Best Director, after being passed over in that category for decades. Lee, who is one of the producers and screenwriters of Focus Features’ “BlacKkKlansman,” also picked up nominations for Best Picture and Best Adapted Screenplay, which are also his first Oscar nominations in those categories. He was previously nominated for Best Original Screenplay for 1989’s “Do the Right Thing” and Best Documentary Feature for 1997’s “4 Little Girls.” Lee also received an honorary Oscar (a non-competitive prize) in 2015.
Spike Lee and Adam Driver on the set of “BlacKkKlansman” (Photo by David Lee/ Focus Features)
Here is the complete list of nominations for the 2019 Academy Awards:
Best Picture
“Black Panther”
(Producer: Kevin Feige)
“BlacKkKlansman”
(Producers: Sean McKittrick, Jason Blum, Raymond Mansfield, Jordan Peele and Spike Lee)
“Bohemian Rhapsody”
(Producer: Graham King)
“The Favourite”
(Producers: Ceci Dempsey, Ed Guiney, Lee Magiday and Yorgos Lanthimos)
“Green Book”
(Producers: Jim Burke, Charles B. Wessler, Brian Currie, Peter Farrelly and Nick Vallelonga)
“Roma”
(Producers: Gabriela Rodríguez and Alfonso Cuarón)
“A Star Is Born”
(Producers: Bill Gerber, Bradley Cooper and Lynette Howell Taylor)
“Vice”
(Producers: Dede Gardner, Jeremy Kleiner, Adam McKay and Kevin Messick)
Best Actor
Christian Bale, “Vice”
Bradley Cooper, “A Star Is Born”
Willem Dafoe, “At Eternity’s Gate”
Rami Malek, “Bohemian Rhapsody”
Viggo Mortensen, “Green Book”
Best Actress
Yalitza Aparicio, “Roma”
Glenn Close, “The Wife”
Olivia Colman, “The Favourite”
Lady Gaga, “A Star Is Born”
Melissa McCarthy, “Can You Ever Forgive Me?”
Best Supporting Actor
Mahershala Ali, “Green Book”
Adam Driver, “BlacKkKlansman”
Sam Elliott, “A Star Is Born”
Richard E. Grant, “Can You Ever Forgive Me?”
Sam Rockwell, “Vice”
Best Supporting Actress
Amy Adams, “Vice”
Marina de Tavira, “Roma”
Regina King, “If Beale Street Could Talk”
Emma Stone, “The Favourite”
Rachel Weisz, “The Favourite”
Best Director
Spike Lee, “BlacKkKlansman”
Paweł Pawlikowski, “Cold War”
Yorgos Lanthimos, “The Favourite”
Alfonso Cuarón, “Roma”
Adam McKay, “Vice”
Best Animated Feature
“Incredibles 2,” directed by Brad Bird; produced by John Walker and Nicole Paradis Grindle
“Isle of Dogs,” directed and produced by Wes Anderson; produced by Scott Rudin, Steven Rales and Jeremy Dawson
“Mirai,” directed by Mamoru Hosoda; produced by Yuichiro Saito
“Ralph Breaks the Internet,” directed by Rich Moore and Phil Johnston; produced by Clark Spencer
“Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse,” directed by Bob Persichetti, Peter Ramsey and Rodney Rothman; produced by Phil Lord and Christopher Miller
Best Animated Short
“Animal Behaviour,” directed and produced by Alison Snowden and David Fine
“Bao,” directed by Domee Shi; produced by Becky Neiman-Cobb
“Late Afternoon,” directed by Louise Bagnall; produced by Nuria González Blanco
“One Small Step,” directed by Andrew Chesworth and Bobby Pontillas
“Weekends,” directed and produced by Trevor Jimenez
Best Adapted Screenplay
“The Ballad of Buster Scruggs,” Joel Coen and Ethan Coen
“BlacKkKlansman,” Charlie Wachtel, David Rabinowitz, Kevin Willmott and Spike Lee
“Can You Ever Forgive Me?,” Nicole Holofcener and Jeff Whitty
“If Beale Street Could Talk,” Barry Jenkins
“A Star Is Born,” Eric Roth, Bradley Cooper and Will Fetters
Best Original Screenplay
“The Favourite,” Deborah Davis, Tony McNamara
“First Reformed,” Paul Schrader
“Green Book,” Nick Vallelonga, Brian Currie and Peter Farrelly
“Roma,” Alfonso Cuarón
“Vice,” Adam McKay
Best Cinematography
“Cold War,” Łukasz Żal
“The Favourite,” Robbie Ryan
“Never Look Away,” Caleb Deschanel
“Roma,” Alfonso Cuarón
“A Star Is Born,” Matthew Libatique
Best Documentary Feature
“Free Solo,” directed and produced by Jimmy Chin and Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyil; produced by Evan Hayes and Shannon Dill
“Hale County This Morning, This Evening,” directed and produced by RaMell Ross; produced by Joslyn Barnes and Su Kim
“Minding the Gap,” directed and produced by Bing Liu; produced by Diane Quon
“Of Fathers and Sons,” directed by Talal Derki; produced by Ansgar Frerich, Eva Kemme and Tobias N. Siebert
“RBG,” directed and produced by Betsy West and Julie Cohen
Best Documentary Short Subject
“Black Sheep,” directed by Ed Perkins; produced by Jonathan Chinn
“End Game,” directed and produced by Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman
“Lifeboat,” directed and produced by Skye Fitzgerald
“A Night at the Garden,” directed and produced by Marshall Curry
“Period. End of Sentence.,” directed and produced by Rayka Zehtabchi
Best Live Action Short Film
“Detainment,” directed and produced by Vincent Lambe; produced by Darren Mahon
“Fauve,” directed by Jeremy Comte; produced by Maria Gracia Turgeon
“Marguerite,” directed by Marianne Farley; produced by Marie-Hélène Panisset
“Mother,” directed by Rodrigo Sorogoyen; produced by María del Puy Alvarado
“Skin,” directed and produced by Guy Nattiv; produced by Jaime Ray Newman
Best Foreign Language Film
“Capernaum” (Lebanon)
“Cold War” (Poland)
“Never Look Away” (Germany)
“Roma” (Mexico)
“Shoplifters” (Japan)
Best Film Editing
“BlacKkKlansman,” Barry Alexander Brown
“Bohemian Rhapsody,” John Ottman
“Green Book,” Patrick J. Don Vito
“The Favourite,” Yorgos Mavropsaridis
“Vice,” Hank Corwin
Best Sound Editing
“Black Panther,” Benjamin A. Burtt and Steve Boeddeker
“Bohemian Rhapsody,” John Warhurst
“First Man,” Ai-Ling Lee and Mildred Iatrou Morgan
“A Quiet Place,” Ethan Van der Ryn and Erik Aadahl
“Roma,” Sergio Diaz and Skip Lievsay
Best Sound Mixing
“Black Panther,” Steve Boeddeker, Brandon Proctor and Peter Devlin
“Bohemian Rhapsody,” Paul Massey, Tim Cavagin and John Casali
“First Man,” Jon Taylor, Frank A. Montaño, Ai-Ling Lee and Mary H. Ellis
“Roma,” Skip Lievsay, Craig Henighan and José Antonio García
“A Star Is Born,” Tom Ozanich, Dean Zupancic, Jason Ruder and Steve Morrow
Best Production Design
“Black Panther”
Production Design: Hannah Beachler; Set Decoration: Jay Hart
“The Favourite”
Production Design: Fiona Crombie; Set Decoration: Alice Felton
“First Man”
Production Design: Nathan Crowley; Set Decoration: Kathy Lucas
“Mary Poppins Returns”
Production Design: John Myhre; Set Decoration: Gordon Sim
“Roma”
Production Design: Eugenio Caballero; Set Decoration: Bárbara Enríquez
Best Original Score
“BlacKkKlansman,” Terence Blanchard
“Black Panther,” Ludwig Goransson
“If Beale Street Could Talk,” Nicholas Britell
“Isle of Dogs,” Alexandre Desplat
“Mary Poppins Returns,” Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman
Best Original Song
“All the Stars” from “Black Panther,” song written by Kendrick Lamar, Solana Rowe (SZA), Mark Spears and Anthony Tiffith
“I’ll Fight” from “RBG,” song written by Diane Warren
“The Place Where Lost Things Go” from “Mary Poppins Returns,” song written by Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman
“Shallow” from “A Star Is Born,” song written by Lady Gaga, Mark Ronson, Anthony Rossomando, Andrew Wyatt and Benjamin Rice
“When A Cowboy Trades His Spurs For Wings” from “The Ballad of Buster Scruggs,” song written by David Rawlings and Gillian Welch
Best Makeup and Hairstyling
“Border,” Göran Lundström and Pamela Goldammer
“Mary Queen of Scots,” Jenny Shircore, Marc Pilcher and Jessica Brooks
“Vice,” Greg Cannom, Kate Biscoe and Patricia DeHaney
Best Costume Design
“The Ballad of Buster Scruggs,” Mary Zophres
“Black Panther,” Ruth E. Carter
“The Favourite,” Sandy Powell
“Mary Poppins Returns,” Sandy Powell
“Mary Queen of Scots,” Alexandra Byrne
Best Visual Effects
“Avengers: Infinity War,” Dan DeLeeuw, Kelly Port, Russell Earl and Dan Sudick
“Christopher Robin,” Christopher Lawrence, Michael Eames, Theo Jones and Chris Corbould
“First Man,” Paul Lambert, Ian Hunter, Tristan Myles and J.D. Schwalm
“Ready Player One,” Roger Guyett, Grady Cofer, Matthew E. Butler and David Shirk
“Solo: A Star Wars Story,” Rob Bredow, Patrick Tubach, Neal Scanlan and Dominic Tuohy
Adam Levine and James Valentine of Maroon 5 at One Voice: Soma Live! A Concert for Disaster Relief on October 14, 2017. (Photo by Jordan Althaus/NBC)
Travis Scott at the Maxim Super Bowl Party in Houston on February 5, 2017. (Photo by Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images for Maxim)
Gladys Knight at the 2018 American Music Awards at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles, on Octobt 9, 2018. (Photo courtesy of ABC/Image Group LA)
The NFL and CBS have now officially announced that rock band Maroon 5 and rappers Travis Scott and Big Boi will perform at the Super Bowl LIII, which will take place at Atlanta’s Mercedes-Benz Stadium on February 3, 2019. In addition, Gladys Knight will perform the National Anthem at the beginning of the game. CBS will have the U.S. telecast of Super Bowl LIII.
The news that Maroon 5 (whose lead singer is “The Voice” coach Adam Levine) would be headlining the 2019 Super Bowl halftime show leaked out in September 2018, but the official announcement didn’t come until months later. The news resulted in considerable controversy, as critics said that anyone performing at the Super Bowl this year essentially agreed with the NFL’s policy against NFL players taking one knee to kneel during the National Anthem as a sign of protest of police brutality against black and brown people. Former NFL player Colin Kaepernick, who many say was ousted from the NFL because of his Black Lives Matter activism, has been named as a poster child for the “take a knee” movement. Several black and brown artists, such as Jay-Z, Rihanna and Cardi B said they turned down offers to perform at the 2019 Super Bowl because they want to stand in solidarity with Kaepernick, who has since signed a lucrative spokesperson deal with Nike. Entertainers such as Jay-Z, Amy Schumer and Rihanna also publicly urged artists to boycott the Super Bowl halftime performance until the NFL changed its policy to allow NFL players to “take a knee” during the National Anthem.
Before it was announced that Scott and Big Boi would be performing, the NFL received immense backlash for choosing Los Angeles-based Maroon 5 (a band whose members are all white except for a black keyboard player) to headline the Super Bowl halftime show instead of choosing a black artist or an artist from Atlanta. However, it seems many of the major black artists who were approached to perform at Super Bowl LII turned down the gig. Jay-Z, Rihanna and Cardi B are just the ones who went public with their rejection of the Super Bowl halftime show. Many more could have been asked and said no to the gig, but have not gone public about it. Big Boi, a former member of OutKast, is a native of Atlanta, and so is Knight.
Buddy Valastro and Duff Goldman of “Buddy vs. Duff” (Photo courtesy of Food Network”
The following is a press release from Food Network:
Elite bakers Buddy Valastro (“Cake Boss”) and Duff Goldman (“Ace of Cakes”) face-off in an epic baking battle for the chance to be crowned the undisputed king of cake on new Food Network series “Buddy vs. Duff,” premieringMarch 10 at 9pm ET/PT. The 6-week competition will challenge every aspect of what it means to be a true pastry artist and cake master. From techniques, to design skills, and taste, each episode will measure their talent in two rounds – a Bake-Off to test their baking abilities, followed by a Cake-Off to showcase their creative imaginations and decorating expertise. Renowned chefs Sherry Yardand Keegan Gerhard are joined throughout the competition by special guest experts including, Florian Bellanger, “Street Science’s” Kevin Delaney, “Flip or Flop’s” Christina Anstead, Hannah Hart, Waylynn Lucas, Penn & Teller, Gesine Prado, “Fast N’ Loud’s” Richard Rawlings, Aarti Sequeira, and many more, to help determine the winner. The pressure is on as the two biggest names in cakes put it all on the line in this ultimate cake-off!
Audiences have come to recognize Buddy and Duff as the biggest names in cake, known for creating larger-than-life, jaw-dropping delectable designs as well as massive baking empires,” said Courtney White, President, Food Network. “Never before have these two baking icons gone head-to-head in a competition, until now.”
The competition is fierce as Buddy and Duff pull out all the stops and push their creativity to the limit in each challenge as they whip up impressive creations. The battle begins as Buddy and Duff must make their most beloved family recipes in the first Bake-Off. Then in the Cake-Off round, they must construct car-inspired cakes with all the bells and whistles. Throughout the season they will be challenged to create carnival treats to impress a crowd of hungry amusement park patrons, dazzle with intricate Bollywood-inspired cakes, and satisfy customers during the morning rush at the iconic Randy’s Donuts in Los Angeles. If that’s not enough, they must also design desserts for an exclusive dog pampering party, impress a couple with elegant wedding cakes for their big day, and enchant audiences with illusion cakes for a special show at Hollywood’s Magic Castle.
In the finale onSunday, April 14 at 9pm ET/PT, Buddy and Duff face their toughest challenge yet. For the final Bake-Off, the two chefs must work to make their most heartfelt and monumental creations yet – chocolate desserts to conceal engagement rings for surprise proposals. Then in the final Cake-Off, their skills are pushed to new heights, as Duff returns to Charm City Cakes and Buddy heads back to Carlo’s Bake Shop to work on their final show-stopping space-themed cakes. After weeks of intense competition, it all comes down to these out-of-this-world creations.
Fans can get an insider’s look at the show with Buddy and Duff at FoodNetwork.com/BuddyVsDuff. Plus, watch bonus videos with the judges and guests that will bring you behind the scenes, and follow the action on social media using #BuddyVsDuff.
FOOD NETWORK (www.foodnetwork.com) is a unique lifestyle network, website and magazine that connects viewers to the power and joy of food. The network strives to be viewers’ best friend in food and is committed to leading by teaching, inspiring, empowering and entertaining through its talent and expertise. Food Network is distributed to nearly 100 million U.S. households and draws over 46 million unique web users monthly. Since launching in 2009, Food Network Magazine’s rate base has grown 13 times and is the No. 2 best-selling monthly magazine on the newsstand, with 13.5 million readers. Food Network is owned by Discovery, Inc., a global leader in real life entertainment spanning 220 countries and territories; the portfolio also includes Discovery Channel, HGTV, TLC, Investigation Discovery, and OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network.
Camila Cabello at the MTV EMAs 2018 at Bilbao Exhibition Centre in Bilbao, Spain, on November 4, 2018. (Photo by Carlos Alvarez/Getty Images for MTV)
Cardi B at the 2018 American Music Awards at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles, on October 9, 2018. (Photo courtesy of ABC/Image Group LA)
Post Malone at the 2018 American Music Awards at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles, on October 9, 2018. (Photo courtesy of ABC/Image Group LA)
Shawn Mendes at the iHeartRadio Music Festival at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on September 22, 2018. (Photo by Sam Wasson/Getty Images for iHeartMedia)
Janelle Monáe at the 22nd Annual Hollywood Film Awards at The Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills, California, on November 4, 2018. (Photo by Steve Granitz/WireImage)
Kacey Musgraves at the 52nd Annual ACM Awards at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on April 2, 2017. (Photo by Francis Specker/CBS)
Camila Cabello, Cardi B, Dan + Shay, Post Malone, Shawn Mendes, Janelle Monáe and Kacey Musgraves are in the first group of artists announced to perform at the 61st Grammy Awards, which will take place at Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles on February 10, 2019. As previously announced, Alicia Keys is hosting the show, which will have its U.S. telecast on CBS.
It’s a tradition for most of the artists performing at a Grammy Awards ceremony are those who are nominated for Grammys that year. All of the aforementioned artists have Grammy nominations in 2019. Cabello and Mendes will be performing at the Grammy Awards for the first time.
Cabello’s Grammy nominations this year are for Best Pop Solo Performance for “Havana [Live]” and Best Pop Vocal Album for her solo debut album, “Camila.” Cabello is a former member of Fifth Harmony.
Cardi B has five Grammy nominations this year. Her debut album, “Invasion of Privacy,” is up for Album of the Year and Best Rap Album; “Girls Like You,” her her hit collaboration with Maroon 5, is nominated for Best Pop Duo/Group Performance; her song “I Like It” is one of the contenders for Record of the Year; and her song “Be Careful” is up for Best Rap Performance.
Dan + Shay’s “Tequila” is nominated for Best Country Duo/Group Performance.
Malone has four Grammy nominations: Album of the Year (for “Beerbongs & Bentleys“); his “Better Now” single is up for Best Pop Solo Performance; and his “Rockstar” collaboration with 21 Savage is nominated for Record of the Year and Best Rap/Sung Performance.
Mendes’ self titled album is nominated for Best Pop Vocal Album, while his single “In My Blood” is a contender for Song of the Year.
Monáe has two Grammy nominations this year: “Dirty Computer” is up for Album of the Year, while she has a Best Music Video nod for “PYNK.”
Musgraves received four Grammy nominations this year: “Golden Hour” is up for Album of the Year and Best Country Album; “Butterflies” is nominated for Best Country Solo Performance; and “Space Cowboy” is a contender for Best Country Song.
Alicia Keys is set to host the 61st Grammy Awards, which will take place at Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles on February 10, 2019. CBS will have the U.S. telecast of the show. It will be the first time that Keys, who has won 15 Grammys, will host the show. She is also an actress and is a coach on NBC’s “The Voice.” She hosted the Soul Train Music Awards in 2004. James Corden hosted the Grammy Awards in 2017 and 2018.
In a statement, Keys said: “I know what it feels like to be on that stage, and I’m going to bring that vibe and energy. I’m so excited to be the master of ceremonies on the biggest night in music and celebrate the creativity, power and, magic. I’m especially excited for all the incredible women nominated this year! It’s going up on February 10!”
Recording Academy President/CEO Neil Portnow added, “A dynamic artist with the rare combination of groundbreaking talent and passion for her craft, Alicia Keys is the perfect choice as host for our show. Throughout her exciting career, I have watched her become a powerful force within the music industry and beyond. As an artist who speaks to the power of music for good, a role model, and a spokesperson for change, we are thrilled to have her on board for what’s sure to be an unforgettable GRAMMY Awards.”
Grammy Awards executive producer Ken Ehrlich commented: “Alicia is one of those rare artists who meld true musical genius with heartfelt emotional lyrics to create a unique approach to everything she does. We have no doubt that she’ll bring all of that as she guides millions of GRAMMY viewers through what we believe will be a very special show in February.”
Keys won her first five Grammys for her 2001 debut album, “Songs in A Minor.” She has sold 30 million records worldwide, according to Sony Music.
The notorious Fyre Festival is the subject of two documentary films that are premiering in the same week. “Fyre Fraud” (directed by Jenner Furst and Julia Willoughby) premieres on Hulu on January 14, 2019, while “Fyre: The Greatest Party That Never Happened” (directed by Chris Smith) premieres on Netflix on January 18, 2019, in addition to “Fyre” having a limited theatrical release on January 18 in New York City and Los Angeles. Although it’s not unusual for two separate documentary films to cover the same subject, it’s extremely rare for them to premiere in the same week.
Fyre Festival was one of the biggest music-industry frauds of this decade. The event, which was heavily promoted on the Internet, was advertised as a star-studded music festival in the Bahamas, offering a luxury experience that was scheduled to take place over two weekends in late April/early May 2017. Instead, attendees arrived at the festival site to find a garbage-filled area with very little shelter except flimsy tents and limited, substandard food options. Fyre Festival was cancelled one day before it was set to begin, and event founder/promoter Billy McFarland was eventually sentenced to six years in prison for fraud. Hip-hop star Ja Rule, who was advertised as a co-founder of the festival, quickly distanced himself from this disaster after the event was cancelled. Ja Rule issued a public apology, placed all the blame on McFarland, and avoided any criminal prosecution, although he and McFarland had several lawsuits brought against them.
There are sure to be many reviews comparing “Fyre Fraud” and “Fyre.” Hulu is making an effort to give “Fyre Fraud” an advantage by having the movie premiere first, and emphasizing that the film has an exclusive interview with McFarland that was done after the festival was cancelled and before he went to prison. “Fyre Fraud” also has media resources such as Mic (the news site aimed at millennials) and music-industry trade magazine Billboard as executive producers of the film. Meanwhile, Netflix’s “Fyre” has Vice Studios as a media partner in producing the documentary. Based on the official trailers and descriptions each documentary, “Fyre” seems to have a more straight-forward approach to the subject matter, while “Fyre Fraud” aims to take a more scathing look at the sociological circumstances that allowed this fraud to become as big as it was. Hulu describes “Fyre Fraud” as a “true-crime comedy,” which indicates that there will be a mocking tone to the film.
Meanwhile, the directors of each documentary have accused each other of questionable ethics, according to TechCrunch. The “Fyre” team said they turned down McFarland’s demands to be paid for an interview. McFarland eventually went to the “Fyre Fraud” filmmakers, who agreed to pay McFarland a six-figure sum (reportedly between $100,000 to $200,000) to be interviewed for “Fyre Fraud.” Meanwhile, the “Fyre Fraud” team says the ethics of “Fyre” are compromised because the film had executive producer involvement from James Ohliger and Elliot Tebele, two co-founders of Jerry Media, the company that marketed the Fyre Festival. A former Jerry Media employee interviewed in “Fyre Fraud” claims that high-ranking Jerry executives knew early on that the festival was a scam, but willingly perpetuated the scam out of greed. “Fyre” director Smith says that despite Jerry Media’s involvement in the film, he still had separate editorial control and did not shy away from depicting Jerry Media’s responsibility in the Fyre Festival fiasco.
Here is Hulu’s trailer and description of “Fyre Fraud”:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ljkaq_he-BU
The Fyre Festival was the defining scam of the millennial generation, at the nexus of social media influence, late-stage capitalism, and morality in the post-truth era. Marketing for the 2017 music event went viral with the help of rapper Ja Rule, instagram stars, and models, but turned epic fail after stranding thousands in the Bahamas. Featuring an exclusive interview with Billy McFarland, the convicted con-man behind the festival; “Fyre Fraud” is a true-crime comedy bolstered by a cast of whistleblowers, victims, and insiders going beyond the spectacle to uncover the power of FOMO and an ecosystem of enablers, driven by profit and a lack of accountability in the digital age.
Emmy™ nominated and Peabody™ award-winning directors Jenner Furst and Julia Willoughby Nason executive produce along with Michael Gasparro, The Cinemart, MIC and Billboard.
DIRECTORS STATEMENT:
“Fyre Fraud” is more than the story of a failed music festival in the Bahamas – this dark comedy is a cautionary tale for a generation.
Billy McFarland offers us a window into the mind of a con artist, the insidious charm of the fraudster and how they can capture our imaginations, our investment, and our votes in the age of Trump. McFarland’s staggering ambition metastasized in a petri dish of late-stage capitalism, corporate greed, and predatory branding, all weaponized by our fear of missing out.
Our aim was to set the stage for a strange journey into the moral abyss of our digital age, going beyond the meme to show an ecosystem of enablers, driven by profit and willing to look the other way, for their own gain.
We draw on countless cultural references, on true crime tension, and on humor – but we did not intend to create a toothless comedy about the Fyre Festival. We hope this film can pierce our collective apathy and disrupt our own millennial peers, if only for an instant – to look at these stories for what they truly are, and to halt this algorithm before it devours us whole.
Here is Netflix’s trailer and description of “Fyre: The Greatest Party That Never Happened”:
An exclusive behind the scenes look at the infamous unraveling of the Fyre music festival. Created by Billy McFarland and rapper Ja Rule, Fyre was promoted as a luxury music festival on a private island in the Bahamas featuring bikini-clad supermodels, A-List musical performances and posh amenities. Guests arrived to discover the reality was far from the promises.
Chris Smith, the director behind the Emmy Award Nominated documentary “Jim & Andy: The Great Beyond,” gives a first-hand look into disastrous crash of Fyre as told by the organizers themselves.
Written & Directed by: Chris Smith (“Jim & Andy: The Great Beyond Featuring a Very Special, Contractually Obligated Mention of Tony Clifton” (2017), “American Movie” (1999 Sundance Grand Jury Prize for Documentary), “Collapse” (2009)) Produced by Library Films, Jerry Media, Matte Projects VICE Studios, and VICE Studios. Executive Producers: Brett Kincaid, Max Pollack, Matthew Rowean, Gabrielle Bluestone, James Ohliger, Elliot Tebele. Edited by Jon Karmen, Koehler.
