LA Conservancy's 'Last... Remains' Brings Thrillers to the Million Dollar Theatre

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PBS SoCal Announces Fine Cut Student Filmmaker Winners From USC, CSUN, California College of the Arts

It's become an annual tradition for my Variety colleague Angelique Jackson and myself, to host the annual "Fine Cut" student filmmaker awards. This year, the event was once again held at Vidiots in Eagle Rock, and we had a great time spotlighting some new, young talent.

Student filmmakers from USC, California College of the Arts and Cal State Northridge were the top winners at PBS SoCal‘s 27th annual Fine Cut Festival of Films. The winners, revealed during a screening and awards ceremony on Tuesday at Eagle Rock’s Vidiots (inside its Eagle Theater), shared prize packages valued at more than $55,000.

This year’s winners included Daniel Simon Zhang (USC), in narrative, for “Stop When Your Ancestors Say So”; Mia Hagerty (USC), in documentary, for “A Good Death”; and John Angelo Serrano (California College of the Arts), in animation, for “Bigger Picture.” The evening’s top prize, the Jack Larson Southern California Student Filmmaker Award, went to Sam Markson (CSUN), for “Jewish Moms Scare the Crap Out of Me.”

“Fine Cut” is PBS SoCal’s longest-running series — launching in 1996 with just four local schools. This year, the competition garnered more than 430 film submissions from 53 schools.

Read more here.

As ‘American Idol’ Leaves Los Angeles for Atlanta, More Concerns Emerge About the State of Local Production

Forget Hollywood. “American Idol” is heading to Georgia, dawg.

In news that felt all too depressingly common in production-starved Los Angeles, word emerged Tuesday that “American Idol” — which has been broadcast live from Los Angeles since it originated in 2002 — would move production to Georgia.

ABC, as well as producers Fremantle and 19 Entertainment (via owner Sony Pictures TV), didn’t respond to requests for comment about the news. But it makes “American Idol” the latest studio-based reality competition series to pull up stakes and leave Los Angeles in search of tax incentives and lower costs.

Fox’s “The Masked Singer,” for example, has moved to New Jersey, having most recently shot on the Fox lot in Century City. Also, ABC’s “Shark Tank,” which had been produced on the Sony lot in Culver City, has moved to Atlanta, as has Fox’s “Lego Masters,” formerly shot in Van Nuys. And game shows like “Family Feud” and “Celebrity Family Feud” have also relocated to the Atlanta area.

Read more here.

Jean Smart and Hannah Einbinder Will Play Their ‘Hacks’ Characters on Stage in One-Night Event ‘Deborah Vance & Friends & Enemies Live!’

Deborah Vance finally returned to the stage in the final season of “Hacks” and now she will in real-life too — sorta. In a first for “Hacks” and stars Jean Smart and Hannah Einbinder, the stars (and their castmates) will appear on stage in public, playing their characters in front of an audience. This is the first time Smart and Einbinder have appeared in-character outside of the Emmy-winning HBO Max comedy.

Timed to the start of Emmy Phase 2 voting, the “Hacks” cast and creators have put together a one-night-only production, to be held at the Fonda Theatre in Hollywood, set inside the world of “Hacks.”

Dubbed “Deborah Vance & Friends & Enemies Live!,” the event will feature Smart as Deborah Vance, Hannah Einbinder as Ava, and more cast members playing their characters. The show will take place on Friday, with doors opening at 6:30 p.m. and the one-hour program starting at around 7:30 p.m. Fans will be served drinks, pizza, soft pretzels and popcorn beforehand. (The event is already sold out.)

More info here.

L.A. Jazz Festival, Which Was Supposed to Feature John Legend, Janelle Monáe and Hundreds More, Canceled at the Last Minute

The inaugural LA Jazz Fest, set for Aug. 7 to 23 and promising major events including a two-day concert at Dockweiler Beach with stars like John Legend, Janelle Monáe, Parliament/Funkadelic and Raphael Saadiq — was canceled Thursday at the very last minute, and commenters online are already comparing it to the famously doomed Fyre Festival.

Organizer Martin Ludlow, a former L.A. city council member (who later pleaded guilty in state and federal courts after being accused of using union workers and money for his campaign), had promoted the LA Jazz Fest as a major citywide event, including free jazz performances in parks across the region, late-night shows in local clubs and a “Caribbean Street Carnival” block party in Venice on Aug. 21.

The ambitious festival also promised a youth jazz camp and youth jazz intensive/master class, and seminars on the state of jazz in America. The LA Jazz Fest was supposed to kick off on Aug. 7 with an opening night event in Leimert Park Village with acts including Lalah Hathaway, Kenyon Dixon, Chief Adjuah and Pete Escovedo.

The main event, however, was supposed to be a “Jazz on the Beach” two-day event at Dockweiler Beach on Aug. 22 and 23. Other acts scheduled included Charlie Wilson, Ezra Collective, Free Nationals, Poncho Sanchez and Big Freedia. The event even boasted that it had organized parking at the Forum, with shuttles “along a closed-off route designed to skip the traffic entirely” to the concert.

Ludlow announced the event at a City Hall press conference in February, which was attended by Mayor Karen Bass. The LA Jazz Fest said it expected to attract 250,000 attendees and had been promoting the event up until just days ago.

By Friday, the LA Jazz Fest website had been scrubbed, with only a cryptic message that said, “August 22-23. Updated event info coming soon.” On the LA Jazz Festival‘s instagram page, comments had been removed from posts that still remained and touted a wide variety of events that now appear to not be happening.

Read more here.