Film Academy donates $250,000 from canceled Oscar Nominees Luncheon for L.A. wildfire relief, Google and YouTube pledge $15 million, and more of today’s top stories
Gold Derby’s top news stories for Jan. 15, 2025
Film Academy donates $250,000 from canceled Oscar Nominees Luncheon
After canceling this year’s Oscar Nominees Luncheon on Monday, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences donated the $250,000 cost of the luncheon to the Motion Picture & Television Fund to assist those impacted by the devastating Los Angeles area wildfires, according to our sister site The Hollywood Reporter. It brings the total contributions of the academy to the MPTF’s fire relief efforts to $1 million. The unprecedented blazes have claimed at least 25 lives, destroyed more than 12,000 structures, and displaced more than 88,000 people. The homes destroyed include the primary residences of four of the 55 academy members who serve on the organization’s board of governors.
Contributions to fire relief have poured in from throughout the entertainment community, including $300,000 recently from the Producers Guild of America in partnership with the Entertainment Community Fund. That fund is dedicated to supporting film, television, and emerging media producers affected by the fires.
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Google and YouTube contribute $15 million to wildfire relief organizations
YouTube and Google — along with the charitable arm Google.org — are together contributing $15 million to organizations providing immediate relief in Los Angeles during the ongoing wildfire crisis, including Emergency Network Los Angeles, the American Red Cross, the Center for Disaster Philanthropy, and the Institute for Nonprofit News. In a blog post, YouTube CEO Neal Mohan said, “When it’s safe to reopen our offices in L.A., we plan to offer YouTube production facilities to impacted creators and artists as they begin to recover and rebuild their businesses. In the coming months, we’ll also host a number of events to bring the YouTube creative community together – making space to connect and share resources.”
Mohan concluded, “On the long road ahead, we’ll continue to support recovery and rebuilding efforts alongside our partners across the industry. In moments like these, we see the power of communities coming together to support each other — and the strength and resilience of the YouTube community is like no other.”
Leonardo DiCaprio commits $1 million to support ‘urgent and post-fire’ recovery
Leonardo DiCaprio has pledged $1 million to the Los Angeles wildfire relief efforts, he revealed Wednesday over Instagram. “The Los Angeles wildfires are devastating our city. I am committing $1 million in partnership with @rewild’s Rapid Response Program to support both urgent needs and post-fire recovery efforts. Initial; aid will immediately benefit the L.A. Fire Department Foundation, California Fire Foundation, World Central Kitchen, California Community Foundation, Pasadena Humane Society and SoCal Fire Fund – organizations providing much-needed resources to our first responders and firefighters, and the people, animals, and communities who need it most.”
DiCaprio, who grew up in and around Los Angeles (including Echo Park and Los Feliz), posted links to each of the benefiting organizations to encourage others to donate.
Paris Hilton raises $800,000 for L.A. wildfire relief
Media personality Paris Hilton – who lost her Malibu home in the Palisades Fire last week – has raised some $800,000 for Los Angeles wildfire disaster relief efforts through her nonprofit 11:11 Media Impact. Hilton’s emergency fund accrued the impressive total in just 72 hours after being launched to help support displaced families with young children. She also donated a $150,000 grant to GoFundMe’s Wildfire Relief Fund to provide assistance for 150 Altadena families displaced by the Eaton Fire.
“As a mom, I can’t imagine the pain and fear of not having a safe place for your babies,” Hilton wrote last week on Instagram. “I’m starting with a personal contribution of $100,000, and will be matching additional dollars raised up to $100,000 more. I am looking for others to donate and match alongside me to do your part!”
‘Wicked’ and ‘A Complete Unknown’ among nominees for 2025 Society of Camera Operators honors
The Society of Camera Operators today announced the film and television nominees for its 2025 SOC Awards, which honor the craft of camera operation and celebrating the role those pros play in storytelling.
Here are the nominees:
Camera Operator of the Year – Film
Bianca Butti, Challengers; Michael Fuchs, Wolfs; Karsten Bloch Jacobsen, Wicked; P. Scott Sakamoto, A Complete Unknown; David J. Thompson, Civil War
Camera Operator of the Year – Television
Scott Dropkin, Yellowstone: “Life is a Promise”; Sam Ellison, The Penguin: “Cent’Anni”; Michael Fuchs, Mr. & Mrs. Smith: “First Date”; Chris Haarhoff, Fallout: “The End”; Gary Malouf, The Bear: “Tomorrow”
Marvel drops official trailer for new series ‘Daredevil: Born Again’
On Wednesday morning, Marvel dropped the trailer for the new series Daredevil: Born Again, which premieres on March 4 on the Disney+ streamer. Starring Charlie Cox as Daredevil, Matt Murdock, the new series reintroduces the lead character who was last seen in the 2022 Disney+ series She-Hulk: Attorney at Law. The logline for the latest show reads as follows: Matt Murdock, a blind lawyer with heightened abilities, is fighting for justice through his bustling law firm, while former mob boss Wilson Fisk (Vincent D’Onofrio) pursues his own political endeavors in New York. When their past identities begin to emerge, both men find themselves on an inevitable collision course.
The show also stars Jon Bernthal of The Bear fame, Wilson Bethel, Margarita Levieva, and Deborah Ann Woll.
Watch the new trailer below.
Starz to launch drama series sequel ‘Spartacus: House of Ashur’ this fall, unveils first teaser
Starz is set to premiere the gladiator drama Spartacus: House of Ashur this fall, the latest sequel in the Spartacus franchise that began on the network in 2010. It dropped the first teaser trailer on Wednesday for the series that finds Nick Tarabay reprising his role as the infamous Ashur in the epic new saga. Outlander’s Graham McTavish will costar as Korris and Tenika Davis as Achilla. According to the show’s logline, “The series poses the question: what if Ashur hadn’t died on Mount Vesuvius at the end of Spartacus: Vengeance? And what if he had been gifted the gladiator school once owned by Batiatus in return for aiding the Romans in killing Spartacus and putting an end to the slave rebellion?”
Spartacus originally debuted on Starz in 2010 under the title Spartacus: Blood and Sand and was followed by the prequel series chapter Spartacus: Vengeance in 2012 and Spartacus: War of the Damned in 2013.
See the new teaser below.
TikTok plans to shut down in the United States on Jan. 19
TikTok – the wildly popular Chinese-owned social media app – is preparing to shut down for American users this Sunday (January 19) barring an unexpected granting of an injunction blocking the planned ban by the U.S. Supreme Court, according to Reuters. A federal law set to take effect this weekend called for TikTok to go dark in the United States unless the app’s Chinese parent ByteDance divests its stake, short of a reprieve by the court. Should the ban take effect, users of the app will see a pop-up message directing them to a website with information about the removal and why it’s being instituted.
TikTok has an estimated 121 million users in the U.S., the overwhelming majority of them children, teens and young adults, and more than a billion active users globally.
Israel’s global streamer Izzy sets Feb. 28 launch date for ‘Shtisel’ prequel ‘Kugel’
The Israeli global streaming platform Izzy is set to exclusively launch the new series Kugel, the highly-anticipated prequel to the international hit drama series Shtisel that told the story of the daily lives of an extended Jewish ultra-orthodox family in Jerusalem. The prequel – premiering Feb. 28 – will be launching simultaneously in a dozen different languages and available to subscribers across more than 100 nations across the globe. Shtisel co-creator Yehonatan Indursky writes Kugel, and the series marks the return of the popular Shtisel characters Nuchem (Sasson Gabay) and Libi (Hadas Yaron).
Shtisel premiered in Israel in 2013, won 17 Israeli Academy Awards, and became a worldwide phenomenon after launching on Netflix in 2018. It ran for three seasons.
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