My Publicist Note Book

'La La Land' mistakenly named best picture, 'Moonlight' wins The 89th Academy Awards will likely be remembered not for the night's big winners, but for a massive mistake after presenter Faye Dunaway awarded "La La Land" the best picture Oscar that should have gone to "Moonlight" instead. CLICK TO WATCH THE VIDEO  But it wasn't her fault. The official accountant of the Oscars, Price Waterhouse Coopers, gave her the wrong envelope. “We sincerely apologize to 'Moonlight,' 'La La Land,' Warren Beatty, Faye Dunaway, and Oscar viewers for the error that was made during the award announcement for Best Picture,” the firm said in a statement. “The presenters had mistakenly been given the wrong category envelope and when discovered, was immediately corrected. We are currently investigating how this could have happened, and deeply regret that this occurred.” Here's how it went down. While the " La La Land &

Moonlight topped the winners at Film Independent’s Spirit Awards on Saturday afternoon, taking home a total of six statuettes, including best feature on eve of Oscars! The full list of nominees is listed below. The winners are noted in  bold . Spirit Awards are given out in the following categories: Best Feature, Best First Feature, Best First Screenplay, Best Director, Best Screenplay, John Cassavetes Award (given to the best feature made for a budget under $500,000), Best Male Lead, Best Female Lead, Best Supporting Male, Best Supporting Female, Best Cinematography, Best International Film, Best Documentary and Best Editing. The Filmmaker Awards include the Piaget Producers Award, the Truer Than Fiction Award and the Kiehl’s Someone to Watch Award. Of note, with respect to this blog’s interest: “Moonlight” took home the most wins for any film nominated this year, and the most wins for any nominated film this decade, with 6 total, including the Robert Altman Award

The Grammy Award-winning singer will receive the Harvard Foundation's Peter J. Gomes Humanitarian Award at a ceremony scheduled for Feb. 28. “Rihanna has charitably built a state-of- the-art center for oncology and nuclear medicine to diagnose and treat breast cancer at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Bridgetown, Barbados,” said S. Allen Counter, the Harvard Foundation’s director. “In 2012, she founded the nonprofit the Clara Lionel Foundation Global Scholarship Program [named for her grandparents] for students attending college in the U.S. from Caribbean countries, and supports the Global Partnership for Education and Global Citizen Project, which provides children with access to education in over 60 developing countries, giving priority to girls, and those affected by lack of access to education in the world today. ” An international musical phenomenon, the Barbados-born singer, actress, and songwriter — whose full name is Robyn Rihanna Fenty — has sold more than 200 mill

There are rich people, and there are poor people. Sometimes, those two very different classes fall within the same family. There are many siblings that have enjoyed success and wealth together like the Jonas Brothers or Ben and Casey Affleck, but there are a lot more that haven’t. Some family members simply failed to capitalize on their own skills to score a high paying job. In many cases, the brothers and sisters of famous people made some really bad life choices. Drugs, alcohol addiction, and general partying are the root of many failures while pure familial resentment has stifled the attempts to be successful for some of the poor siblings on our list. Mariah and Alison Carey Mariah Carey is known worldwide as a pop star with a hugely successful career that has spanned decades. She’s 46 now, but she’s still making music in every capacity — writing, performing, and producing. Alison Carey, on the other hand, has become famous recently for very different reasons. In 2016, Aliso

Larry Fong, pulls some sleight-of-hand visual magic for the latest incarnation of Kong, the great ape It’s hard to find a more enduring (and misunderstood) movie monster than the great gorilla, Kong, who made his debut in Merian C. Cooper’s 1933 self-titled feature and has reappeared on the big screen twice since (by Dino De Laurentiis in 1975 and again by Peter Jackson in 2005). Visual effects have been key to Kong’s legacy since Willis O’Brien’s stop-motion magic first brought the big ape to life; then Jackson’s own WETA Digital VFX shop brought the monster to another level 12 years ago. Now, in 2017, director Jordan Vogt-Roberts, working with Larry Fong, ASC, and a host of ILM effects masters, has updated the timeless tale, having the 100-foot tall Kong doing battle on his home turf. Kong: Skull Island  takes place just after the end of the Vietnam War.  The plot involves a pseudo-scientific organization (led by John Goodman) that sends a group of former military explorers t

After the CIAA Championship game join us for the Official Champions Reception & Concert with Najee & Tony Terry on Saturday, February 25th at 10 PM at the Charlotte Convention Center! Hosted by Lorenzo "Ice Tea" Thomas of the Michael Baisden Show After party with SGL Productions featuring "The Game Changer" DJ Darryl Krush! 2/25/17 VENUE:  Charlotte Convention Center ADDRESS:  501 College Street,  Charlotte NC START TIME:  10:00 pm COST:  $50 TICKETS/REGISTRATION ABOUT NAJEE: Two-time Grammy nominated saxophonist and flautist, Najee has made a career following his heart and keen musical intuition by pushing musical boundaries, all of which have made him an international pioneer in the music industry. Having collaborated with everyone in the music business from Prince, Quincy Jones to Stevie Wonder, Chaka Khan and Herbie Hancock, Najee’s technical agility, grace, compositional prowess, unbridled passion and fearless genre bending hav

On the Friday before the Oscars, the strategists behind many of the top campaigns will gather at the Beverly Hilton for the 54th annual ICG Publicist Awards. This year’s gathering will include four special presentations:  Jeffrey Katzenberg  is to receive the Lifetime Achievement Award,  Denzel Washington  and  Ryan Murphy  will receive the Showman of the Year prizes for film and TV respectively and B|W|R Public Relations co-founder  Nanci Ryder  is to be feted with the President’s Award. Among the talent tapped to make these presentations are: Oscar winner  Renee Zellweger , Oscar nominee  Kate Hudson , Emmy winner  Sarah Paulson  and SAG-AFTRA President  Gabrielle Carteris . In addition, there are seven competitive awards, including one for individual publicists, two for studio efforts, two for photographers and two for the press. Nominees for the Les Mason Award, the highest honor that publicists can bestow on one of their own, are: Barbara Hannegan, Senior Publicis