for one of the first published interviews that Warren Beatty has given in years on the occasion of his new Howard Hughes biopic, "The Rules Don't Apply."
http://bayareane.ws/2cFXsWA
The 2012 film âThe Avengersâ cemented Marvelâs dominance at the box office, but the movie had a secret: A man had died bringing the blockbuster to the big screen. John Suttles died after falling from his truck while preparing to drive it to a set, but his name was not listed in the film's credits. Outside the production and Suttlesâ family, the only clue to his death and its connection to the movie was an 84-page investigative file by the workplace safety agency, Cal/OSHA.
That clue was uncovered by AP Entertainment Writer Anthony McCartney, who began investigating set accidents in 2014. After diving into state and federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration records, he discovered that dozens of workers had been killed and more had been seriously hurt on big-name television and film properties. Set accidents remain largely hidden, and the consequences usually amount to mere thousands of dollars in fines paid out of multimillion-dollar budgets, he reported. McCartney also catalogued numerous fatal film-set accidents internationally. His painstaking work wins Beat of the Week.
for their Only on AP story that details new accusations from three women of sexual misconduct against filmmaker Paul Haggis. Getting the story required deft interviewing by the two reporters to get the accusers to open up about their assertions against another Hollywood heavyweight. http://bit.ly/2m4YgY4
for his exclusive, wide-ranging interview with George Clooney, in which the actor commented on fatherhood, his new film about racism in America, and Donald Trumpâs fitness to be president. http://bit.ly/2w84vNe
landed a clean scoop on the death of director-producer Ivan Reitman thanks to her reputation for professionalism on the film beat. Los Angeles-based Bahr received a call from a source during the Super Bowl, saying the 75-year-old Reitman had died and the family trusted her to break the story. That set Bahr and AP into motion on an obit that made news, even on a busy Sunday night. Read more
AP entertainment video manager Ryan Pearson had interviewed Chadwick Boseman eight times since 2013. He knew the actor and his work well, and heâd worked closely with the actorâs publicist and her company.
Thatâs why the publicistâs first media call after Bosemanâs death was to Pearson and the AP â she wanted the story reported by a responsible news organization. Another outlet, she worried, was getting close.
Pearson immediately alerted colleagues and set out to write an obituary that shocked the world. The AP staff in turn responded with comprehensive all-formats coverage, the story quickly becoming the biggest of the month on AP News and mobile.
For source and beat development that led to a tip on perhaps the biggest entertainment story of the year, and delivered a stream of important work for APâs customers and audience, Pearson wins APâs Best of the Week.
Early in the planning stage for this yearâs Cannes film festival, London-based Dejan Jankovic, deputy director of entertainment content, decided to build his photo team with a combination of experience and fresh eyes, including Athens photographer Petros Giannakouris, who had no Cannes experience, and Invision entertainment specialists Ali Kaufman and photographers Joel Ryan, Vianney le Caer and Arthur Mola
The resulting coverage visually captured the glamour and excitement of the event in new ways without sacrificing the traditional elements that have worked in the past. AP won the Cannes Photograph of the Day award five times over the two weeks, impressive recognition in a competition open to every accredited photographer there.
For showing the glamour, fashion and celebrities of Cannes in a fresh and arresting manner, Jankovic, Giannakouris, Kaufman, Ryan, le Caer and Mola earn APâs Best of the Week award.
for sizing up the latest âStar Warsâ film and delivering, within hours of seeing it, a review that gave the AP and its audience a thorough take on one of the yearâs biggest releases. The story received more than 50,000 views in its first 24 hours. Spoiler alert, Coyle found it âspirited, hectic and ultimately forgettable.â https://bit.ly/2sZRauk
Lindsey Bahr, film writer, Los Angeles, for breaking two entertainment stories during an interview with actor Matt Damon ...
The envelope was opened, âGreen Bookâ was announced as best picture at the 91st Oscars, and entertainment writer Andrew Daltonâs eyes shifted over to Spike Lee.
The director threw up his hands in exasperation and attempted to storm out of the Dolby Theatre before being told to return to his seat. Social media quickly lit up with disdain for the selection by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, and Daltonâs eyewitness reporting quickly fueled the criticism.
In a packed theater filled with actors and other journalists, Dalton reported what few saw and the television cameras didnât show, giving the AP exclusive material and driving audiences to its comprehensive Oscars coverage.
Later that night, entertainment producer Mike Cidoni Lennox interviewed âGreen Bookâsâ producers outside the Oscarsâ official after-party, helping drive the following dayâs coverage of the controversial win.
The reaction to the best picture winner capped dominating all-formats team coverage of the Oscars, the result of months of planning and preparation. AP customers received a steady stream of photos, video and stories, including film writer Jake Coyleâs deadline story which was viewed more than 88,000 times. Coyle had crafted prep for all the likely winners, allowing for fast updates when the envelopes were opened.
For their extensive planning, professional expertise and swift work, Dalton, Coyle and Lennox win APâs Best of the Week award.
for the only interview with Bollywood star Irrfan Khan about his struggles with a rare form of cancer. He told her he trusted the AP to give an accurate account of his illness, which he does not know if he will be able to beat. https://bit.ly/2KoD7Bm
for breaking the news of the birth of the Clooney twins at least a couple of minutes before anybody else, a clear beat on one of the most anticipated celebrity baby births in years. http://apne.ws/2rejy6o
gave voice to the intense emotion within communities of Catholic nuns that have experienced devastating losses from outbreaks of the coronavirus. The Felician Sisters alone lost 21 of their own from four U.S. convents, a remarkable blow for a community of about 450 women. This intimate look within the cloister showed the lasting effects of what the pandemic wrought â in this case, the most reverent found themselves questioning faith and how one might continue living when so many nuns didnât.After initial difficulty connecting with receptive sources, national writer Sedensky found Sister Mary Jeanine Morozowich in Greensburg, Pennsylvania, who had a level of introspection and eloquence that would help drive this story. That opened the doors to St. Anne Home in Greensburg. Sedensky and video journalist Wardarski, both compassionate listeners, encouraged the openness of the sisters, helping introduce the pair to others at the ministry. âBy the time Jessie and I paid a visit there, we were able to share moments and conversations with all of them,â Sedensky said. Along the way, a couple of sisters told him that they felt better after their conversations.The package, including Wardarskiâs poignant visuals, found a receptive audience. The AP pair received innumerable emails expressing how much the story moved readers. One was headlined: âMy tears flowed as I read your article.â Another said: âYour article about the loss of these beautiful women will stay with me always. ... You wrote it so beautifully and with such respect.âhttps://bit.ly/3g8vYsGhttps://bit.ly/3gdjJeh
As the COVID-19 pandemic killed more than a half-million Americans, it also quietly inflamed what had already been one of the countryâs greatest public health crises: addiction.
To tell that story, a multiformat AP team — writer Claire Galofaro, photographer David Goldman and video journalist Mike Householder — spent time in Huntington, West Virginia, exploring the resurgence of addiction in a community that had made progress against drug abuse. The AP team embedded with the cityâs Quick Response team for a week, providing a unique window into the suffering those with addiction have endured as the pandemic brought despair and cut off access to support systems and health care resources.
The evocative package resonated with readers, and the storyâs main subject said she was âecstaticâ over how well the story captured the world she sees every day.
For sensitive and compelling coverage that furthers the APâs efforts to explore the rippling consequences of COVID-19, the team of Galofaro, Goldman and Householder wins this weekâs Best of the States award.
crafted a tender, poignant photo package of nursing home residents in Spain hugging their relatives through protective sheets of plastic, his images almost instantly resonating among audiences worldwide. âOne of the most moving epidemic-era photos I have seen,â wrote one Twitter user. Another called it âan ode to love and so heartbreaking. Terrific work.â Multiple media organizations including The Guardian and CNN included Morenattiâs work in their must-see photo collections of the week. https://bit.ly/2YK0iRg
navigated issues of access, multiple locations and complex logistics in covering this yearâs one-of-a-kind Academy Awards ceremony, altered from top to bottom by the pandemic.The event was one of the largest photo pools AP has ever run. APâs remarkable access came as the result of years of relationship building with the film academy, which trusted AP to not only shoot photos of its marquee event, but also distribute those images to news outlets around the globe.Under the leadership of Kaufman, assistant director of photography, and with a workflow developed largely by photo editor Munoz, the team expedited some 1,500 still images to 11 members of the pool. Meanwhile, in London, Jankovic coordinated photographers and editors handling the Oscarsâ global satellite locations â from Sydney to Stockholm to Kilkenny, Ireland, and points in between. Success meant assembling a team of AP staffers, including a team of 10 editors â most off-site due to pandemic restrictions â who quickly edited, captioned and transmitted the images. In addition, at the academyâs request, video journalist Turner shot the Oscarsâ pool fashion feed â a key position that is highly valuable to clients looking for red carpet looks and unscripted moments.Bottom line: If you saw a photo from the red carpet, or a winner clutching the coveted statuette, chances are it was shot by the AP. The images were used in countless tweets, online stories and on dozens of newspaper front pages, notably above-the-fold play for shots of âNomadlandâsâ best picture winners by Pizzello, who also authored a âVirus Diaryâ with his reflecions on being an entertainment photographer during the pandemic.https://bit.ly/3vpV8HDhttps://bit.ly/3gOI1eY
AP scooped the rest of the world with the contents of the highly anticipated report by Chinese and World Health Organization experts on the origins of the COVID-19 virus. The scoop was so significant that it forced our direct competitors to quote AP in their headlines and stories for hours, as they and others scrambled to match it.
How did AP do it?
Tipped that the report was imminent, Geneva chief correspondent Jamey Keaten cast a wide net among trusted sources, seeking a copy whenever it became available — and APâs repeated scoops on WHO have made it the go-to news organization for reliable reporting on the U.N. agency. That paid off: A source Keaten had cultivated for years sent the report to him electronically early Monday morning. He quickly relayed the file to Greater China news director Ken Moritsugu, launching an urgent multiformat effort. Working with colleagues in Asia, Moritsugu had a carefully worded alert and story on the wire as day dawned in Europe. AP video colleagues followed with a six-minute archive package, footage of the report itself and official on-camera reaction.
For giving the AP a massive lead on the dayâs biggest story, and harnessing APâs global presence to produce news with speed and accuracy, Keaten and Moritsugu earn APâs Best of the Week honors.
went beyond just documenting the fires that swept across Brazilâs Pantanal wetlands, decimating wildlife, but also reported that the governmentâs meager response allowed the blazes to spiral out of control. Almost one-quarter of the Pantanal, the worldâs largest tropical wetlands, went up in flames â an area bigger than the state of Maryland, and double what California lost this year.
The Brazilian government said it mobilized hundreds of troops and agents. as well as aircraft dropping water, to douse the fires. The AP team used witness testimonials, local data and its journalistsâ own observations â they didnât find a single armed forces member during five days in the northern Pantanal, where the fires were centered. Sources yielded further evidence and a government source who was involved in the Pantanal fire response later confirmed the APâs findings, despite continued assertions by Brazilâs environment ministry that its response was stellar.
The team produced multiple packages with especially strong video and photos. The work was the most used from Latin America by AP clients for all of September.https://bit.ly/33zTrMvhttps://bit.ly/36KwSad
conducted a gripping video interview with a 33-year-old Italian lawyer and water polo player about the manâs battle with COVID-19, underscoring how the disease not only hits the elderly or those with underlying health conditions. Santalucia interviewed Andrea Napoli by Skype and filmed him waving from a hotel that is being used for patients recovering from the coronavirus. The video and a text story by Milan correspondent Colleen Barry won widespread play. https://bit.ly/39x7cLX
for being first with a named source confirming that Angelina Jolie Pitt had filed for divorce from Brad Pitt. http://bit.ly/2d9TKlQ