Arts Reel

Skydance: The New Name for the Paramount-WBD Combine

David Ellison has put a name on the soon-to-merge Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery: Skydance . The planned combination is set to close on Oct. 6 , with Ellison serving as chairman and CEO of the new company. Paramount and Warner Bros. are expected to continue as sub-brands , while the corporate...

Soap Recaps and a Swiss Financial Soap Opera

Three very different worlds are delivering the same kind of satisfaction right now: fast-moving fallout, high-stakes choices, and consequences that refuse to stay neatly contained. In daytime, that means a confrontation in Port Charles and a strategic sacrifice on Beyond the Gates . In finance, it...

Shemar Moore’s Next Act: What ‘S.W.A.T.: Exiles’ Means for the Franchise

There are stars who trend because the internet is bored, and then there are stars who trend because a familiar, audience-tested lane is opening back up beneath their feet. Shemar Moore’s name is circulating widely right now for both reasons, but only one of them has staying power. The durable...

Highlights From the 2026 MTV VMAs

The MTV VMAs have always been part theater and part high wire live TV. This year’s ceremony, broadcast live from the Peacock Theater in downtown Los Angeles on Sunday, September 27, 2026, landed for me in a few specific places: a Madonna opener that (to my eye) was built for scale, a seven-award...

What Makes a Good Stage Lighting Plot?

A lighting plot is theater’s quiet superpower: a piece of paperwork that turns “make it feel like a storm is coming” into something a crew can hang, circuit, focus, and run eight shows a week. When it is good, it saves time, prevents expensive mistakes, keeps performers safe, and preserves the...

How to Read a Theater Program Like a Pro

There are two kinds of theatergoers: the ones who flip through the program because it is there, and the ones who treat it like a backstage pass. If you have ever wondered why the person next to you seems to know everything before the first line is spoken, the answer is usually simple. They read the...

How to Submit a Short Film to Festivals

Submitting a short film to festivals is part paperwork, part matchmaking, and part calendar gymnastics. When it goes well, your film lands in rooms that feel made for it, with an audience primed to meet it halfway. When it goes badly, you can burn through fees, time, and momentum without ever...

How to Prepare for a Commercial Audition

Commercial auditions are their own ecosystem. They move quickly, the sides (the script pages you are given) are often short, and the job is usually less about showing a big emotional arc and more about proving you can be believable , camera-ready, and easy to direct in a small window of time. The...

How to Get Cast as an Extra in Film and TV

There is a particular kind of thrill in watching a scene and thinking, I know exactly how that got made . Background work, also called being an extra, is one of the most accessible ways to step onto a professional set, earn a paycheck, and learn how film and TV actually move. It is not glamour, not...

How to Attend a Live TV Taping

There is a particular thrill to watching television become television. The jokes land twice, once in the room and again in your memory when you see the edited cut. The applause has a job to do. Even the awkward pauses feel choreographed. If you have ever wondered how people end up in those...

What a Table Read Is in Film and TV

Before a camera rolls or a set gets dressed, there is a deceptively simple ritual that can make a script feel like a living thing: the table read. If you have ever heard a showrunner talk about “hearing the episode,” or watched cast interviews where everyone lights up remembering the first...

What a Casting Director Does

There is a particular kind of alchemy in casting: that moment when a character stops being words on a page and becomes a living person with a pulse, a voice, a way of holding a coffee cup. Casting directors are the professionals who engineer that transformation, with equal parts taste, logistics,...

Riley Green’s Adam Levine Jab and the Morgan Wallen Context

Adam Levine’s name is orbiting The Voice again, but not for the reason the internet usually expects. The current spark is less about Levine himself and more about what he represents on this show: a longtime star coach whose taste and instincts still get treated like a measuring stick when fans...

How to Choose Theater Seats for the Best View and Sound

Buying theater tickets can feel like a tiny high-stakes game show: pick the right square, win a great night. Pick the wrong one, and you might spend Act Two leaning like a sunflower toward the stage. The good news is that most seat maps follow a few reliable rules. Once you know what each section...

What Happens at a Film Premiere?

A film premiere looks like pure glamour from the outside. Inside, it is more like a carefully choreographed night at the theater: timed arrivals, a few unwritten rules, and a room full of people who care deeply about what you are about to watch. If you have a ticket, an invite, or a plus-one and...

How to Attend a Live Comedy Show Without Overpaying

Live comedy is one of the best bargains in entertainment, until it isn’t. The same show can swing wildly in price depending on when you buy, where you click, and whether you accidentally turn a simple night out into a buffet of add-ons and fees. I love a packed room and a killer closer as much as...

How Film Ratings Work: G, PG, PG-13, R, and NC-17 Explained

Film ratings can feel like a quick shorthand for what you are about to watch. But they are also a bit like a stage manager’s call sheet: the real story is in the details. In the United States, the familiar G, PG, PG-13, R, and NC-17 labels come from the film rating system administered by the Motion...

What Happens at a Red Carpet Event?

The “red carpet” can look like pure glamour from your couch, but in real life it is closer to a tightly choreographed mini-production. Think: security, check-in, a few minutes of posing that feel like a marathon, and then a quick pivot inside where the actual screening or ceremony happens. Whether...

Streaming Release Windows, Explained

There is a special kind of modern suspense reserved for movie lovers: not whether a film is good, but when you will be able to watch it at home. A title leaves theaters, your group chat starts asking, “Is it streaming yet?”, and suddenly you are knee-deep in acronyms and pricing tiers. Here is the...

How to Choose the Best Seats for Any Live Show

Buying tickets can feel like you’re taking a pop quiz in geometry. Orchestra or mezzanine. Center or side. Row A or “limited view” with a price that looks suspiciously good. The truth is, there isn’t a universally “best” seat. There’s only the best seat for your night: what you want to see, what...