Tag: Entertainment-HollywoodReporter

The 2026 Producers Guild Awards have been handed out, with One Battle After Another continuing its winning streak and taking home the night’s top award.

The Darryl F. Zanuck Award for Outstanding Producer of Theatrical Motion Pictures has historically served as the best predictor of who will win best picture at the Oscars, because of the similar membership size between PGA and the Academy, and both of their use of the weighted preferential ballot. Bugonia, F1, Frankenstein, Hamnet, Marty Supreme, One Battle After Another, Sentimental Value, Sinners, Train Dreams and Weapons were nominees for that honor, but One Battle was crowned the winner.

Director Paul Thomas Anderson used his time at the mic to shout out Warner Bros.’ Mike De Luca and Pam Abdy, who were involved in the making of One Battle, Sinners and Weapons.

“You’ve heard their names over and over again, [they] should get an award for enduring a lot on the road to get these films made. You kept your head down and you protected me; Ryan [Coogler], I’ll speak for you, protected Ryan, protected Zach [Creggar]. You’ve done an incredible job protecting us,” he said in his acceptance speech. “That’s real producing too — getting us out of the gate, letting us do our work, protecting us through the distribution and leading us here. And so whatever the road lies ahead, your work this year is so spectacular. I share this with you. None of us could have done this without the two of you guys and the entire team that you have around you. Long may you wave, whatever the future holds. It is one battle after another.”

A total of 10 categories were announced, alongside awards for animated motion picture and a wide range of TV offerings. KPop Demon Hunters, The Pitt, The Studio, My Mom Jayne: A Film by Mariska Hargitay and The Late Show with Stephen Colbert are among those who also took home statues.

Four awards were handed out ahead of Saturday night’s ceremony, with Formula 1: Drive to Survive, Sesame Street, Adolescence: The Making of Adolescence and The Wizard of Oz as those early winners. In addition to the competitive prizes, three special honors were presented: Amy Pascal received the David O. Selznick Award; Jason Blum the Milestone Award; and Mara Brock Akil the Norman Lear Award.

Presenters at this year’s ceremony included Amy Madigan, Delroy Lindo, Elle Fanning, Emily V. Gordon, Greta Gerwig, Ike Barinholtz, Jacob Elordi, Jason Ritter, Jessie Buckley, Joachim Trier, Kate Hudson, Kerry Condon, Kumail Nanjiani, Lisa Gilroy, Mariska Hargitay, Michael Keaton, Odessa A’zion, Paul Mescal, Ralph Farquhar, Regina Hall, Seth Rogen, Teyana Taylor, Thomas Lennon, Vinny Thomas, Wagner Moura, William H. Macy and Wumni Mosaku.

PGA executive director Susan Sprung kicked off the evening, acknowledging the events of the last 24 hours in the Middle East and “praying for peace.” She also addressed the recent deal for Paramount to take over Warner Bros. Discovery, saying, “I know all of us are also thinking about the future of one of our most storied studios and its implications for our industry more broadly. Please note that the guild’s position has not changed. We will continue to call on regulators for the scrutiny and ultimately the safeguards and protections that producers need, that everyone in this business deserves, and that are the right of those who consume what we create. The vitality of our industry is at stake and on that producers will not be silent.”

Ralph Farquhar was on hand to present to Brock Akil, who told the room, “I have spent over three decades working inside systems that were not built with me in mind — learning them, navigating them, stretching them. I am deeply grateful to every collaborator, every writer in every writers room, every cast and crew member who trusted me with their talent, their time and their dreams.”

Later in the show, Barry Diller appeared to present to Blum, as the horror mogul acknowledged, “We’re living at this time where machines are very confident that they can pick what will work, that algorithms can tell us everything we’ve ever watched and what we should watch next, and AI can tell us what to stream in the mood we’re in next Tuesday. But what machines can’t do?” He then brought up the success of Heated Rivalry, noting, “If you would ask an algorithm a few months ago to predict a low-budget gay hockey romance with zero known stars, I promise you the algorithm would have been like, do not make that show. But that’s why Heated Rivalry needed us. It needed producers.” Blum added that he even invited the hit show’s producers to be his guests at the show, but they were in New York to watch Connor Storrie host SNL.  

And to close out the night, Greta Gerwig presented Pascal with her special honor, gushing that the producer was “the person I dreamed I would meet when I came to Hollywood: a gorgeous, wild, genius woman.” Pascal had the crowd laughing with her speech, particularly when she acknowledged that “the way I became a producer was pretty fucked, and then I got lucky, and then it was all really hard anyway.” She continued that there are many challenges to being a producer, including “knowing that no matter how bad things get, how many mistakes you made, how many failures you have, it’s never really over, no matter what anyone tells you.”

A complete list of this year’s winners follows.

Darryl F. Zanuck Award for Outstanding Producer of Theatrical Motion Pictures

Bugonia
Nominees: Ed Guiney, p.g.a., Andrew Lowe, p.g.a., Yorgos Lanthimos, p.g.a., Emma Stone, p.g.a., Lars Knudsen, p.g.a.

F1
Nominees: TBD

Frankenstein
Nominees: Guillermo Del Toro, p.g.a., J. Miles Dale, p.g.a., Scott Stuber, p.g.a.

Hamnet
Nominees: Liza Marshall, p.g.a., Pippa Harris, p.g.a., Sam Mendes, p.g.a., Steven Spielberg, p.g.a., Nicolas Gonda, p.g.a.

Marty Supreme
Nominees: TBD

One Battle After Another
Nominees: Adam Somner, Sara Murphy, Paul Thomas Anderson (WINNER)

Sentimental Value
Nominees: Maria Ekerhovd, Andrea Berentsen Ottmar

Sinners
Nominees: Ryan Coogler, p.g.a., Zinzi Coogler, p.g.a., Sev Ohanian, p.g.a. 

Train Dreams
Nominees: Marissa McMahon, p.g.a., Teddy Schwarzman, p.g.a., William Janowitz, p.g.a., Ashley Schlaifer, p.g.a., Michael Heimler, p.g.a.

Weapons
Nominees: Zach Cregger, p.g.a., Miri Yoon, p.g.a.

Award for Outstanding Producer of Animated Theatrical Motion Pictures

The Bad Guys 2
Nominee: Damon Ross, p.g.a.

Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Infinity Castle
Nominees: TBD 

Elio
Nominee: Mary Alice Drumm, p.g.a.

KPop Demon Hunters
Nominee: Michelle L.M. Wong, p.g.a. (WINNER)

Zootopia 2
Nominee: Yvett Merino, p.g.a.

Norman Felton Award for Outstanding Producer of Episodic Television – Drama

Andor 
The Diplomat 
The Pitt (WINNER)
Pluribus 
Severance 
The White Lotus 

Danny Thomas Award for Outstanding Producer of Episodic Television – Comedy

The Bear 
Hacks 
Only Murders in the Building
South Park 
The Studio (WINNER)

David L. Wolper Award for Outstanding Producer of Limited or Anthology Series Television

Adolescence (WINNER)
The Beast in Me 
Black Mirror
Black Rabbit
Dying for Sex

Award for Outstanding Producer of Televised or Streamed Motion Pictures

Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy
The Gorge
John Candy: I Like Me (WINNER)
Mountainhead
Nonnas

Award for Outstanding Producer of Non-Fiction Television

aka Charlie Sheen 
Billy Joel: And So It Goes 
Mr. Scorsese
Pee-wee as Himself (WINNER)
SNL50: Beyond Saturday Night 

Award for Outstanding Producer of Live Entertainment, Variety, Sketch, Standup & Talk Television

The Daily Show 
Jimmy Kimmel Live! 
Last Week Tonight with John Oliver 
The Late Show with Stephen Colbert (WINNER)
SNL50: The Anniversary Special

Award for Outstanding Producer of Game & Competition Television

The Amazing Race 
Jeopardy! 
RuPaul’s Drag Race 
Top Chef 
The Traitors (WINNER)

Outstanding Producer of Documentary Motion Pictures

The Alabama Solution (HBO Documentary Films)
Cover-Up (Netflix)
Mr. Nobody Against Putin (Made in Copenhagen)
My Mom Jayne: A Film by Mariska Hargitay (HBO Documentary Films) (WINNER)
Ocean with David Attenborough (National Geographic)
The Perfect Neighbor (Netflix)
The Tale of Silyan (National Geographic)

Alauda Ruiz de Azúa’s Basque family drama Sundays beat out Oliver Laxe’s Oscar-nominated techno-tracked dystopian drama Sirāt to take top prize at the Goya Awards, Spain’s top film honors.

Sundays won best picture, director, best actress for star Patricia López Arnaíz, and best original screenplay, alongside a supporting actress win for Nagore Aramburu. The film won San Sebastián’s Golden Shell in September, and was the consensus choice for the Spanish film academy, who members vote on the Goyas.

Sirāt, which won Cannes’ Jury Prize last year and is Spain’s contender for the best international feature Oscar, as well as an Academy Award contender for best sound, did not go home empty handed. Laxe’s feature won six Goyas at the event, held in Barcelona on Saturday night, scoring trophies for best sound, cinematography, editing and original score.

Another multiple-prize winner was Eva Libertad’s Deaf, a drama following a deaf woman navigating pregnancy and motherhood with a hearing partner, which won Goyas for best new director, best supporting actor and best new actress for star Miriam Garlo. The film premiered in Berlin last year, where it won the audience award for the Panorama section. Toni Fernández Gabarre took best new actor honors for his performance in Guillermo Galoe’s Sleepless City.

Joachim Trier’s Oscar contender Sentimental Value was named best European film, while Dolores Fonzi’s Oscar-shortlisted Belén won best Ibero-American film.

Politics, as so often at the Goyas, were part of Saturday’s ceremony. Co-host Luis Tosar wore a Palestine flag pin and, from the stage, condemned what he called the “Gaza genocide,” drawing sustained applause. Multiple winners wore “Free Palestine” or “Stop Genocide” badges.

Susan Sarandon, who was honored with the lifetime achievement honor, praised both Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez and local artists for speaking “with such moral lucidity.” In a world marked by “cruelty” and “violence.” “It helps me to feel less alone, part of a larger community,” she added.

Full list of 40th Goya Awards Winners

Best Picture
Sundays, dir. Alauda Ruiz de Azúa

Director
Alauda Ruiz de Azúa, Sundays

Actress
Patricia López Arnaíz, Sundays

Actor
José Ramón Soroiz, Maspalomas

New Director
Eva Libertad, Deaf

Original Screenplay
Sundays, dir. Alauda Ruiz de Azúa

Adapted Screenplay
La Cena, dir. Joaquín Oristrell

Art Direction
Sirāt, dir. Oliver Laxe

Supporting Actor
Álvaro Cervantes, Deaf

Supporting Actress
Nagore Aramburu, Sundays

New Actress
Miriam Garlo, Deaf

New Actor
Toni Fernández Gabarre, Sleepless City

Documentary Feature
Afternoons of Solitude, dir. Albert Serra

Animated Feature
Decorado, dir. Alberto Vázquez

Sound
Sirāt, dir. Oliver Laxe

Original Music
Sirāt, dir. Oliver Laxe

Cinematography
Sirāt, dir. Oliver Laxe

Editing
Sirāt, dir. Oliver Laxe

Production Design
Sirāt, dir. Oliver Laxe

Original Song
Flowers for Antonio, dir. Alba Flores

Special Effects
Los Tigres, dir. Alberto Rodríguez

Costume Design
La Cena, dir. Joaquín Oristrell

Makeup & Hairstyling
The Captive, dir. Alejandro Amenábar

Ibero-American Film
Belén, dir. Dolores Fonzi

European Film
Sentimental Value, dir. Joachim Trier

Fiction Short
Ángulo Muerto, dir. Cristian Beteta

Animated Short
Gilbert, dir. Jordi Jiménez

Documentary Short
El Santo, dir. Carlo D’Ursi

Honorary Goya
Gonzalo Suárez

International Honorary Goya
Susan Sarandon

Sinners was the biggest winner at the 16th annual Guild of Music Supervisors Awards in Los Angeles Saturday night, with “I Lied to You” winning best song written and/or recorded for a film, while the movie’s music supervisor Niki Sherrod won for best music supervision in major budget films.

“I Lied to You” co-writer Raphael Saadiq, who also co-wrote the Oscar-nominated “Mighty River” from Mudbound, accepted the Icon Award as well, recognizing his contributions in music and film. Saadiq performed “I Lied To You” alongside Sinners composer Ludwig Göransson, with Brittany Howard joining in on guitar.

Also performing Saturday night was Diane Warren alongside Sharon Farber and Eden Kontesz, who played Warren’s Oscar-nominated “Dear Me” from Diane Warren: Relentless. Keith Secola performed the Dark Winds song “NDN Kars,” which was also nominated for a guild award Saturday. Cris Chil, the guild’s spoltight performer for the evening, debuted a new song called “15K.”

Alejandro Aranda, the runner up in the seventeenth season of American Idol, paid tribute to the show’s late music supervisor Robin Kaye, who was murdered last year. Her death was a shock to her music supervisor peers, who remember her as one of the most talented supervisors in the business. Kaye was posthumously honored with the Guild’s Legacy Award on Saturday.

Outside of the Sinners wins, Marty Supreme and music supervisor Gabe Hilfer won for music supervision in mid-level budget films, while One of Them Days, Sarah Bromberg and Stephanie Diaz-Matos won in the low budget film category.

On the TV side, Hilfer also won with The Studio for best music supervision in a television comedy, while Tiffany Anders won with The Lowdown for supervision in a television drama. Meryl Ginsberg, Sara Torres and Jordan Young won with Love Island USA for best music supervision in reality television. “Dialing In,” which Radiohead frontman Thom Yorke wrote for Apple TV’s Smoke, won for best song written and/or recorded for television.

For a full list of winners from Saturday’s awards, see below.

Best Music Supervision in Major Budget Films 
Niki Sherrod 
Sinners 
 
Best Music Supervision in Mid-Level Budget Films 
Gabe Hilfer 
Marty Supreme 
 
Best Music Supervision in Low Budget Films 
Sarah Bromberg, Stephanie Diaz-Matos 
One of Them Days 
 
Best Music Supervision in a Non-Theatrically Released Film 
Frankie Pine 
Nonnas 
 
Best Song Written and/or Recorded for a Film 
“I Lied to You” from Sinners 
Music Supervisor: Niki Sherrod 
Performer: Miles Caton 
Songwriters: Ludwig Göransson, Raphael Saadiq 
 
TELEVISION 
 
Best Music Supervision in a Television Drama 
Tiffany Anders 
The Lowdown (Season 1) 
 
Best Music Supervision in a Television Comedy 
Gabe Hilfer 
The Studio (Season 1) 
 
Best Music Supervision in Reality Television 
Meryl Ginsberg, Sara Torres, Jordan Young 
Love Island USA (Season 7) 
 
Best Song Written and/or Recorded for Television 
“Dialing In” from Smoke (Season 1) 
Music Supervisor: Mary Ramos 
Performer: Thom Yorke 
Songwriter: Thom Yorke 
 
DOCUMENTARIES 
 
Best Music Supervision in a Documentary Film 
Amanda Clemens, Jody Colero 
Lilith Fair: Building a Mystery 
 
Best Music Supervision in a Docuseries 
Deborah Mannis-Gardner 
Hip Hop Was Born Here (Season 1) 
 
ADVERTISING 
 
Best Music Supervision in Advertising (Synch) 
Nellie Rajabi, Jonathan Wellbelove 
Apple – “iPhone 17 Pro | The Ultimate Pro” 
 
Best Music Supervision in Advertising (Original Music) 
Patrick Lawrence Zappia 
Gap – “Give Your Gift. (2025)” 
 
Best Music Supervision in Advertising (Long-Form) 
Julian Drucker 
Yogi Tea – “The Theory of Spice” 
 
TRAILERS 
 
Best Music Supervision in a Trailer (Film) 
Adam Konger, Sanaz Lavaedian, Marina Polites 
One Battle After Another (Official Trailer 2) 
 
Best Music Supervision in a Trailer (Series) 
Scenery Samundra, Gregory Sweeney 
The White Lotus: Season 3 (Official Trailer) 
 
Best Music Supervision in a Trailer (Video Game & Interactive) 
Megan Barbour, Naaman Snell 
Fortnite Battle Royale “Chapter 6 Season 2: Lawless” (Cinematic Gameplay Trailer) 
 
VIDEO GAMES 
 
Best Music Supervision in a Video Game (Synch) 
Allison Wood 
NASCAR 2025 
 
Best Music Supervision in a Video Game (Original Music) 
Death Stranding 2: On the Beach 
Music Supervisor: Hideo Kojima 
Composers: Ludvig Forssell, Woodkid 

While introducing Producers Guild of America Milestone Award nominee Jason Blum at the PGA Awards on Saturday night, Barry Diller made digs at David Ellison, as well as the guild itself, for giving the honor to people like Harvey Weinstein and Les Moonves in previous years.

“What would Jack Warner do to know he’d been succeeded by a stunt pilot?” Diller, chairman of internet and media conglomerate IAC, said, which evoked audible gasps and laughs from the audience. Paramount mogul Ellison, who has been in the news in recent days for the mega merger between Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery, is a licensed pilot for helicopter aviation, aerobatics and more. Warner, of course, was the founder and president of Warner Bros. Studios.

Diller, a longtime friend of Blum’s, continued: “Cecil B. DeMille, Disney, and now Blum: Not the most obvious succession, but then you also gave this award to Harvey Weinstein and Les Moonves. So there’s that.”

Diller continued his introduction by making quips at Blum’s “cheapness.” Of course, Blum, the founder and CEO of Blumhouse (behind horror franchises like Paranormal Activity, Insidious, The Black Phone, The Purge), is well known for investing small amounts of money in films and giving directors their creative freedom. For example, 2007’s Paranormal Activity was made for just $15,000 but grossed almost $200 million worldwide.

“There’s some commonality with the greats,” Diller continued. “DeMille made movies for $15,000 and so did Blum almost 100 years later. To say he’s cheap isn’t a characterization. It’s a defining attribute. … I’m giving this award to Jason, not because I like horror movies; I actually hate them. But because we’ve been friends since before he matriculated, if that’s the right word to describe working for Harvey Weinstein. How he found his groove after that is anyone’s guess, but he sure did find it.”

Blum served as an executive for Bob and Harvey Weinstein at their production company Miramax before becoming an independent producer at Paramount and founding Blumhouse Productions in 2000.

Diller continued: “300 films made on the lowest pay scales in film history, but he also did something quite extraordinary in itself, and that’s helping artists tell stories and helping them make a lot of money. … Once Jason found his calling, he focused with an intensity that is rare in this business, and that’s worth saying because Hollywood is essentially a machine that’s designed to distract you. There’s always a bigger budget being dangled in front of you, a more prestigious kind of movie that will get you an awards campaign or a franchise that someone swears is going to change everything. The shiny objects in this town are endless. Jason though stayed focused on scary and people betting on themselves … Jason is this odd something of a Renaissance man, a true embodiment of a man [who] can do all things if it is his will. And it is his will and his stick to perseverance of what he believes in and how essentially honest and honorable he has been that makes me ever so glad to be able to present this award to him.”

When Blum took the stage to accept the Milestone Award, he said “I think my biggest achievement is getting Barry Diller to the PGAs.”

“Barry’s been a friend of mine for a long time and a mentor of mine and someone I admire so, so much,” he added. “And he’s changed my life is a lot of ways.”

During his acceptance speech, the horror mogul also talked about how AI cannot replicate the passions and tastes of a producer. “We’re living at this time where machines are very confident that they can pick what will work, that algorithms can tell us everything we’ve ever watched and what we should watch next, and AI can tell us what to stream in the mood we’re in next Tuesday. But what machines can’t do?” He then brought up the success of Heated Rivalry, noting, “If you would ask an algorithm a few months ago to predict a low-budget gay hockey romance with zero known stars, I promise you the algorithm would have been like, ‘Do not make that show.’ But that’s why Heated Rivalry needed us. It needed producers.” Blum added that he even invited the hit show’s producers to be his guests at the show, but they were in New York to watch Connor Storrie host Saturday Night Live.

For a full list of PGA winners, click here.

The good news continues for the new regime at Paramount continues as Scream 7 blows past all expectations at the domestic box office, where the Spyglass Media pic is on course to open to $60 million or more, a franchise-best and the year’s biggest launch to date. It even has shot at $65 million, which would be the best opening in months.

Friday’s haul of $28.8 million includes $7.8 million in Thursday previews, which began just as David Ellison’s Paramount-Skydance learned the path has been cleared for the company to buy Warner Bros. Discovery in a deal that has left Hollywood rocked to its core after Netflix stepped away.

Despite a franchise-low critics’ score on Rotten Tomatoes, Scream 7 scored a franchise-best $7.8 million in previews, surpassing previous record-holder Scream VI ($5.7 million) and proving once again why many genres titles are generally review-proof.

Co-financed by Spyglass Media and Paramount, the film is playing in 3,540 theaters in North America. Overseas, it is rolling out in 52 markets, including Australia, Brazil, France, Germany, Italy, Mexico, Spain, and the United Kingdom, with seven additional markets to follow. (The series does best in English-speaking markets.)

Heading into the weekend, Paramount forecasted a $40 million launch for the the slasher pic, which would have still marked the best three-day launch of the year to date. Tracking was more bullish, with the National Research Group projecting $45 million. As of now, Scream VI, which launched to $44.4 million in March 2023, is the record-holder for the series’ top opener, not adjusted for inflation.

The big wild card was audience scores. As long as they aren’t as bad as the reviews, the pic shouldn’t be murdered by poor word of mouth, although studios generally like to see an audience score of 80 percent and above. As of Saturday morning, the Rotten Tomatoes audience score was a good-enough 78 percent.

Globally, Scream 7 is targeting now targeting a launch north of $80 million. While Paramount’s new studio heads Dana Goldberg and Josh Greenstein inherited the project, they, along with newly installed marketing head Josh Goldstine successfully carried it over the finish line in tandem with Spyglass.

The pic sees Neve Campbell return to the iconic series in the role of Sidney after sitting out Scream VI because of a salary dispute after appearing in every film up to that point.

Kevin Williamson, who wrote the script for the original Scream, Scream 2 and Scream 4, directs the seventh installment. The story follows Sidney as she returns to a small town with her daughter (Isabel May), who soon cross paths with a new Ghostface killer. The girl is named Tatum, the same name of Rose McGowan’s character in the 1996’s Scream who was murdered.

A trailer released in October focused on Ghostface targeting Sidney and Tatum, with Sidney teaching her daughter the rules of surviving the brutal killer. Another ad played during the Super Bowl, underscoring how important the franchise is to David Ellison and his new regime at Paramount. In addition to Campbell, original star Courteney Cox returns as reporter Gale Weathers.

Spyglass fully produced the movie, with Paramount co-financing half of the net $45 million budget.

Scream 7 has a secret weapon in its arsenal — it will be the first installment to play in Imax. It is also playing across all other premium formats.

While Campbell’s return marks a highly anticipated moment for fans, two stars of the revival films Scream (2022) and Scream VI will not be back. Melissa Barrera was fired from Scream 7 because of her social media posts about the Israel-Hamas war. Jenna Ortega had already left the film voluntarily before the firing, though it was not made public until after. Christopher Landon, who was set to direct the horror sequel, also exited amid intense fan backlash after Barrera’s firing, despite not being the one to fire the actress.

Other franchise stars returning include David Arquette as Dewey Riley, completing the legacy trio alongside Sidney and Gale. Matthew Lillard, one of the original co-Ghostface killers, is coming back as Stu Macher, as well as Scott Foley, Scream 3‘s Ghostface Roman Bridger — Sidney’s half-brother. Siblings Chad and Mindy, played by Mason Gooding and Jasmin Savoy Brown are also in Scream 7.

The other big victor of the weekend is Neon and Baz Luhrmann’s Elvis Presley doc, which looks to come in fourth place with a dazzling $7 million start to $8 million start.

More to come.

Feb. 25, 7:20 a.m.: Updated with revised estimates.

This story was originally published February 27 at 8:59 a.m.

Mary Walsh, a veteran CBS News producer of over four decades, is exiting the company, claiming in an exit memo to staffers that instructions to “aim our reporting at a particular part of the political spectrum” are partly why she’s departing.

“We’ve been reading a lot of goodbyes lately and here I am headed out the door. It’s too soon, even after 46 years,” Mary Walsh wrote in a memo sent Friday, per The Guardian. “But maybe it’s for the best. We’ve been told to aim our reporting at a particular part of the political spectrum. Honestly, I don’t know how to do that.”

The Guardian further reported that CBS Evening News executive editor Kim Harvey sent a separate message to staff in response to Walsh’s memo.

“We wish Mary Walsh well and thank her for many years of service,” Harvey wrote, according to the outlet. “Mary wrote in her farewell note, ‘We’ve been told to aim our reporting at a particular part of the political spectrum.’ That is simply not true. Here at the Evening News, we value our editorial independence, and CBS News leadership has never asked us to aim our reporting in any political direction.”

Walsh joined CBS News in September 1982, per her LinkedIn. Her departure arrives one day after Netflix backed out of the bidding war for Warner Bros. Discovery, that was ultimately won by Paramount. The latter company is led by David Ellison, and has been going through changes with Bari Weiss as CBS News’ editor-in-chief.

Several CBS Evening News production staffers have taken buyouts, as the program shifts with Tony Dokoupil at the forefront. As The Hollywood Reporter previously reported on Feb. 12, 11 staffers took the buyout offer, including producer Alicia Hastey, who wrote in a departing note that she was “proud of the work that’s been done in my time here.”

However, she added that “there has been a sweeping new vision prioritizing a break from traditional broadcast norms to embrace what has been described as ‘heterodox’ journalism.”

“The truth is that commitment to those people [in the stories Hastey cited] and the stories they have to tell is increasingly becoming impossible,” Hastey continued. “Stories may instead be evaluated not just on their journalistic merit but on whether they conform to a shifting set of ideological expectations — a dynamic that pressures producers and reporters to self-censor or avoid challenging narratives that might trigger backlash or unfavorable headlines.”

A slew of top Oscar contenders won ACE Eddie Awards for the best in editing on Friday night, affirming their positioning as top Oscar contenders as final Academy voting has just gotten underway. 

When it came to top best-picture candidates One Battle After Another and Sinners, at least, the American Cinema Editors guild did not have to decide, with One Battle’s Andy Jurgensen and Sinners’ Michael P. Shawver, respectively, winning the theatrical comedy and theatrical drama categories. The Oscars only have one editing category, of course, and both ACE Eddie winners are nominated there alongside Sentimental Value, Marty Supreme and F1 — all of which were nominated for ACE Eddies between their two main theatrical categories.

Netflix dominated the rest of the feature-film lineup, with KPop Demon Hunters’ Nathan Schauf winning for animation and The Perfect Neighbor’s Viridiana Lieberman taking home the documentary award. Both movies continue to cruise to Oscar night, where they’re heavily favored to win — though The Perfect Neighbor’s biggest competition, BAFTA doc winner Mr. Nobody Against Putin, was not nominated here.

Moving to TV, Mark Strand of awards juggernaut The Pitt won in drama, overtaking Andor, which actually won the equivalent Emmy back in the fall. The Studio stayed strong in comedy, with Eric Kissack winning the ACE Eddie for the series premiere “The Promotion,” just as he did at the Emmys. 

The limited series race was of particular interest, since the single-take-driven Adolescence wasn’t nominated here (just as it wasn’t in the Emmys’ editing race). While The Penguin had three of the five Emmy-nominated episodes, it lost with the Television Academy to Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story, likely a result of vote-splitting. Here, ACE nominated only Henk van Eeghen for the series finale, and he has managed to win. It’s oddly late recognition of the drama, which aired way back in 2024 — in fact, despite its single season, this is the second straight year of ACE Eddie noms for the show because the finale fit within an extended eligibility period. 

Taking place at UCLA’s Royce Hall, the ACE Eddie Awards were hosted by Asif Ali and featured several special award presentations: The ACE Golden Eddie Filmmaker of the Year Award went to Ang Lee; YouTube’s Kim Larson received the ACE Visionary Award; and Arthur Forney and Robert Leighton won ACE Career Achievement awards. See below for the full list of winners.

EDITED FEATURE FILM (Drama, Theatrical):

Sinners
Michael P. Shawver 

BEST EDITED FEATURE FILM (Comedy, Theatrical):

One Battle After Another
Andy Jurgensen

BEST EDITED ANIMATED FEATURE FILM:

KPop Demon Hunters
Nathan Schauf

BEST EDITED DOCUMENTARY FEATURE:

The Perfect Neighbor
Viridiana Lieberman 

BEST EDITED DOCUMENTARY SERIES

Pee-wee as Himself – Part One
Damian Rodriguez

BEST EDITED MULTI-CAMERA COMEDY SERIES:

Frasier (Murder Most Finch)
Russell Griffin, ACE

BEST EDITED SINGLE CAMERA COMEDY SERIES:

The Studio (The Promotion)
Eric Kissack, ACE

BEST EDITED DRAMA SERIES:

The Pitt (6 p.m.)
Mark Strand, ACE

BEST EDITED FEATURE FILM (NON-THEATRICAL):

A Winter’s Song
Yvette M. Amirian, ACE 

BEST EDITED LIMITED SERIES:

The Penguin (A Great or Little Thing)
Henk van Eeghen, ACE

BEST EDITED REALITY SERIES:

Conan O’Brien Must Go (Austria)
Matthew Shaw, ACE
Brad Roelandt

BEST EDITED VARIETY TALK/SKETCH SHOW OR SPECIAL:

Saturday Night Live 50th Anniversary Special
Paul Del Gesso
Christopher Salerno
Ryan Spears
Sean Mcilraith, ACE
Ryan Mcilraith
Daniel Garcia 

BEST EDITED ANIMATED SERIES:

South Park, “Twisted Christian”
David List
Nate Pellettieri

BEST EDITED SHORT:

All The Empty Rooms
Erin Casper, ACE
Stephen Maing
Jeremy Medoff

ANNE V. COATES AWARD FOR STUDENT EDITING:

Luis Barragan – California State University, Fullerton

Paramount‘s $111 billion megadeal for Warner Bros. Discovery is officially a go.

The two companies formally unveiled the deal Friday after Netflix formally bowed out of the running a day earlier, citing a price that was “no longer financially attractive.”

Paramount mogul David Ellison said: “From the very beginning, our pursuit of Warner Bros. Discovery has been guided by a clear purpose: to honor the legacy of two iconic companies while accelerating our vision of building a next-generation media and entertainment company. By bringing together these world-class studios, our complementary streaming platforms, and the extraordinary talent behind them, we will create even greater value for audiences, partners and shareholders — and we couldn’t be more excited for what’s ahead.”
 
Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav added, “I’m very pleased with the outcome we achieved for WBD shareholders and the entertainment industry. Our guiding principle throughout this process has been to secure a transaction that maximizes the value of our iconic assets and our century-old studio while delivering as much certainty as possible for our investors. We look forward to working with Paramount to complete this historic transaction.”

The deal will see Paramount pay $31 per share for WBD, but it also had other elements, including a ticking fee payable to shareholders equal to $0.25 per quarter beginning after Sept. 30, 2026, as well as a $7 billion regulatory termination in the event the transaction does not close due to regulatory matters. The ticking fee means that the price of WBD will rise the longer the regulatory process takes.

The dea, is backed by $47 billion in equity commitments from the Ellison family and RedBird Capital, and $54 billion in debt financing from Bank of America, Citigroup, and Apollo. Paramount added that “at closing, the equity may include other strategic and financial partners,” though it did not disclose those partners. Previous bids included funding from Middle East sovereign wealth funds, Tencent, and Jared Kushner’s Affinity Partners.

Paramount has also paid the $2.8 billion termination fee that Warner Bros. was required to pay to Netflix to abandon its signed deal.

California Attorney General Rob Bonta has already said they have an open investigation and intend to be “vigorous” in their review of the deal.

In announcing the deal officially, Paramount also made some commitments meant to assuage concerns from the town. For starters, the company says that it will maintain both Paramount and Warner Bros. as independent studios, with a commitment to 15 films from each every year, with full 45-day windows before going to premium video on-demand, with longer windows for hit films.

The company is also committing to continue selling its programming to third parties, and to be a buyer of content from other studios.

And Paramount reiterated its estimate that it can yield $6 billion in “synergies,” which it says will be “driven by a combination of: technology integration (such as migrating the combined company to a single enterprise resource planning system and consolidating streaming technology stacks), corporate-wide efficiencies, including procurement savings, optimizing the combined real estate footprint, and otherwise streamlining operational efficiencies.”

Of course, Hollywood is bracing for substantial layoffs following the deal close, though the announcement also suggests that other notable assets (do both Warners and Paramount need their own studio lots in L.A.?) may be sold.

“Warner Bros. is a world-class organization, and we want to thank David Zaslav, Gunnar Wiedenfels, Bruce Campbell, Brad Singer and the WBD Board for running a fair and rigorous process,” WBD co-CEOs Ted Sarandos and Greg Peters said in a statement Thursday. “We believe we would have been strong stewards of Warner Bros.’ iconic brands, and that our deal would have strengthened the entertainment industry and preserved and created more production jobs in the U.S.  But this transaction was always a ‘nice to have’ at the right price, not a ‘must have’ at any price.”