L.A. Times Entertainment

Los Angeles has long been a magnet for those chasing their big break in film and TV, but conversations about a growing exodus are getting louder. L.A.’s entertainment industry workforce has been rocked by a series of unprecedented shocks, from a global pandemic to last summer’s double labor strikes by writers and actors. As the streaming boom has faded, entertainment companies have hemorrhaged jobs, and networks, studios and streamers have pared back their programming slates. With the industry in the grips of a slowdown and the cost of living in L.A. still high, the motto for those struggling to remain in the city has become “Survive till ’25,” in hopes of a rebound next year. Reporter Josh Rottenberg talked with three different creatives about leaving L.A.’s entertainment industry. Read more at the link in @latimes_entertainment ’s bio. 📸 : @zoecranfill / Los Angeles Times; @ginaferazzi / Los Angeles Times; Shlomit Ovadia

There were lime-green tube tops, lime-green beanies, lime-green hoodies and cowboy hats and sunglasses and at least one lime-green mesh vest like something an especially with-it street paver might wear. But even those not dressed in the glaring color of Charli XCX’s glaring new album, #Brat , were showing their devotion to the English pop singer this month, shouting along with every word as she performed all 15 of the album’s tracks for a capacity crowd vibrating with excitement at the Shrine Expo Hall in Los Angeles. @charli_xcx ’s sudden ascent is just one of several we’re seeing this summer, including @sabrinacarpenter and @chappellroan , both of whom are putting up huge numbers after years of work in the trenches of pop music. So why now for these women — and in a year crowded with activity, no less, by veteran A-listers like Taylor Swift, Beyoncé and Billie Eilish? The Times’ pop music critic has your answers and talks with industry insiders at the link in @latimes_entertainment ’s bio. 📸 Andy Kropa, Evan Agostini and Amy Harris / Invision / Associated Press; Lexie Moreland / WWD via Getty Images; @therealchristinahouse / Los Angeles Times; @ginaferazzi / Los Angeles Times

Thousands of Kendrick Lamar fans hit @thekiaforum in Inglewood for “The Pop Out — Ken & Friends” show on Juneteenth, with many telling The Times’ @michaelblackshire_ that the concert was the best way to celebrate the holiday. Hit the link in @latimes_entertainment ’s bio for more pictures from the show and more thoughts from the fans. 🎥 @michaelblackshire_ , @ducassi #kendrick #notlikeus #losangeles #juneteenth

Alt-rock icon @Beck is stopping at the Hollywood Bowl for a show with the @laphil as part of a tour on which he’s performing orchestral renditions of tunes from throughout his catalog. “We’re doing songs we don’t usually perform live because they don’t work without the orchestra,” Beck told The Times’ Mikael Wood. Known for hits such as “Loser,” “Where It’s At” and “E-Pro,” Beck said his approach to greatest hits-style sets is evolving. “There’s songs I’d do 10, 15, 20 years ago that would cause a predictable reaction from the audience. And now, because of streaming or the just evolution of taste, there’s other songs that have come out of the woodwork that people like more. I did a song called ‘Everybody’s Gotta Learn Sometime’ for ‘Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind’ — it wasn’t in my repertoire at all, but because of the film, there’s a whole generation of people who know me for that song.” Read more at the link in @latimes_entertainment ’s bio. 📸 : @dania_maxwell at the Spare Room at the Roosevelt Hotel 🖊️: @mikael.wood #beck #music #laphil #hollywoodbowl #hollywood #roosevelthotel

“The doors to the Bear may be open, but the elephant is still in the kitchen,” writes Times columnist Mary McNamara. “#TheBear , FX’s Emmy-sweeping, meme-generating, kitchen-whites selling, deeply immersive experience of a series dropped on Hulu on Wednesday, and viewers are scrambling to see what kind of sweat-of-their-brow delicacies it serves up next,” writes McNamara. “By exposing the world to the wonder of the Chicago beef sandwich, the regimented patois of the kitchen and a cast that appears to have been assembled in heaven, ‘The Bear’ has taken restaurant culture to a whole new ‘Yes, chef!’ level.” “For an adult child of an alcoholic, however, ‘The Bear’ isn’t about restaurants,” McNamara writes in her latest column. Read it at the link in @latimes_entertainment ’s bio. 📸 FX

#PalmRoyale star Josh Lucas stopped by the L.A. Times to answer our #VeryImportantQuestions ! Watch more episodes at the link in @latimes_entertainment ’s bio or at latimes.com/viq Presented by @20thcenturystudios , @marvelstudios and @Lucasfilm 🎥@markpottslat #Television #tv #funny #trending #emmys #comedy

Robert Towne, the screenwriting icon who won an Academy Award for his original script for “Chinatown,” died Monday at his home in Los Angeles. He was 89. In a screenwriting career launched in 1960 as a writer for low-budget producer-director Roger Corman, Towne earned an early reputation in Hollywood as a sought-after “script doctor,” stepping in to do uncredited work on troubled screenplays for movies such as “Bonnie and Clyde” (1967) and “The Godfather” (1972). A Los Angeles native born during the Depression, Towne was perhaps best known for the critically acclaimed, influential screenplay, “Chinatown.” Directed by Roman Polanski and starring Jack Nicholson and Faye Dunaway, the 1974 film classic is set in 1937 Los Angeles and features Nicholson as private investigator J.J. “Jake” Gittes, who is hired to investigate a supposedly cheating husband but instead finds himself enmeshed in a dark mystery involving deception, murder, and a vast water and land conspiracy in the San Fernando Valley. Towne received rare public acknowledgment of his behind-the-scenes work in 1973 when “Godfather” director Francis Ford Coppola accepted a screenwriting Oscar for that landmark film and, “giving credit where credit is due,” thanked him for writing “the very beautiful scene between Marlon [Brando] and Al Pacino in the garden” — a scene Towne wrote the night before it was shot that illustrates the transfer of power from the aged Mafia don to his son Michael and indirectly captures the love between the two characters. Two years later, the press was calling Towne “the hottest writer in Hollywood.” Read more about his life and legacy at the link in @latimes_entertainment ’s bio. 📸 Bob Carey / Los Angeles Times #chinatown #thegodfather #screenplay #film #cinema #writing #oscars

Tech scion David Ellison has reached a preliminary deal to buy the Redstone family holding company, National Amusements Inc., which would give his Skydance Media control over Paramount Global, according to three people close the situation who were not authorized to comment. Details of the deal were not immediately available, but the move represents another dramatic reversal by media mogul Shari Redstone, who controls National Amusements and its 77% voting shares in Paramount Global. Learn more at the link in @latimes_entertainment ’s bio. 📸 Brian van der Brug/Los Angeles Times

“It’s a weird thing to point a camera at if you’re not making ‘Psycho,’” says Ti West, the director behind @A24 ’s newest horror franchise, as he stands in front of the house from Alfred Hitchcock’s classic film. West calls his trilogy “movie-flavored movies” — artifice and dreams are the top notes. “X” is about scrappy strivers trying to break into the business; “Pearl,” about the dangers of buying into the fantasies on screen. #MaXXXine , the highest-profile film of his career, wrestles with accepting that Hollywood isn’t quite what one hopes. “We just kind of manifested it, built this entire trilogy into existence. And it’s been incredible to see it unfold,” Mia Goth says. In addition to playing multiple roles across this mini-franchise, Goth co-wrote “Pearl” and executive-produced the last two films. “It is not lost on me that there is a meta thing happening with these movies and me and Mia, and that’s gratifying and strange,” West says. “And it’s also something that we’ve never taken any time to stop and talk about. We were too busy making movies.” Read our full interview with West and learn more about the iconic local locations seen in the film at the link in @latimes_entertainment ’s bio. 📸 @jason_armond ; @myung_chun ; A24

#Hacks star Hannah Einbinder stopped by the L.A. Times to answer our #VeryImportantQuestions ! Watch more episodes at the link in @latimes_entertainment ’s bio. Presented by @20thcenturystudios , @marvelstudios and @Lucasfilm 🎥@markpottslat #Television #tv #funny #trending #emmys #comedy

@katedelcastillo , 52, didn’t let weak cellphone reception get in the way of celebrating her invitation to join @theacademy . “I’m shooting in the middle of nowhere with a terrible signal,” Del Castillo said on Wednesday via text. “I’m humbled by this invitation and also very aware of this huge responsibility. I’ll do my best to honor the academy and its members by being honest and fair.” Known for her work in films like “Under the Same Moon” and the TV narcocrime drama “La Reina del Sur,” the Mexican-born actress is among the 487 artists and executives invited to join the academy on Tuesday. Of these, 41 are Latino, less than 10%. Fellow actors such as #JessicaAlba , #StephanieBeatriz and #AlfredoCastro also were selected. Other notable Latino inductees include Linda Yvette Chávez, writer of “Flamin’ Hot”; casting director Alejandro Reza; and Kyle Patrick Alvarez, who directed “The Stanford Prison Experiment.” ➡️ Read the full story through @delosangelestimes ’ link in bio. ✍️ @noitsnotcerys 🎨 @a_martinaibanez

You can’t spell “laugh” without “LA” (or “ugh”…). Introducing a new digital series from the L.A. Times: “Jokes On L.A.” It’s — well, it’s exactly what it sounds like: #JokesOnLA . 😂 In this episode, we spotlight the comics of @laughingstock_la : @itsliarich @seanhamrin @celinekuk @jonathan.adam.dunn @notallinfluencers @jennmarsala @cee_everything & @lizpollack You might have seen them perform at their sell-out Saturday night show at the @lyrichyperion in Silver Lake or their back-to-back month-long sellout runs at the 2022 and 2023 #EdinburghFringe Festivals. You can catch ‘em later this Summer on their upcoming tour of the UK and collaboration with @donttellcomedyparis — or at their last U.S. show pre-tour, Saturday June 29th at the @lyrichyperion . But more than buzz or individual success, Laughing Stock founders and producers Charley Lanyon and Jennifer Marsala say that their comedy collective “represents a growing movement that goes to the heart of what is wrong with the notoriously toxic stand-up scene.” “Instead of putting on traditional comedy shows, we have modeled ourselves on historic artistic collectives,” and fostered a sense of community and collaboration through writing groups and annual retreats, “where ideas and punchlines are shared freely— all in the spirit of community and mutual support.” Dive deep into L.A.’s robust comedy scene at the link in @latimes_entertainment ’s bio or at latimes.com/comedy 🎥 Produced by @ducassi #comedy #losangeles #standup #funny #la #standupcomedy #comedyvideos #comedyreels