Anthony Bourdain News

Focus Features has acquired the worldwide rights to Miranda July's Kajillionaire, which premiered to rave reviews at the Sundance Film Festival. Written and directed by July, who won multiple awards at the Cannes Film Festival for Me and You and Everyone We Know including the Critics Week Grand Prize, the Prix Regards Jeune and the Camera d'Or, Kajillionaire stars Golden Globe® nominated Evan Rachel Wood (Westworld), Golden Globe® winner Gina Rodriguez (Jane the Virgin), Academy Award® nominated Richard Jenkins (The Shape of Water), and Academy Award® nominated Debra Winger (The Lovers, Terms of Endearment). Producers are Plan B Entertainment's Dede Gardner and Jeremy Kleiner, and Youree Henley. Plan B Entertainment's Brad Pitt, Annapurna's Megan Ellison, and Jillian Longnecker executive produced. Focus Features will distribute the film in the U.S. and Universal Pictures International will distribute internationally.

New Store No. 2 is the second solo album from Chris Maxwell, a quintuple threat: gifted songwriter, singer, guitarist, producer, arranger. He's best known for the catchy, jagged junkyard rock he made with the legendary New York band Skeleton Key in the 90's and more recent work as half of the Elegant Too production team. With the latter he's composed and recorded music for hit TV series like the Emmy Award-winning Bob's Burgers and produced artists like They Might Be Giants and Jon Spencer ... as one does! New Store No. 2 is being released February 14 (Valentine's Day!) by Max Recordings.

The 92nd Street Y announces award-winning Broadway, TV and film producer Richie Jackson in conversation with Queer Eye's Antoni Porowski on Wednesday, January 29, launching the publication of Jackson's new book, Gay Like Me. In this poignant and urgent love letter to his son, Jackson reflects on his experiences as a gay man in America and the progress and setbacks of the LGBTQ community over the last 50 years.

Focus Features is set to partner with writer/director Paul Thomas Anderson on his untitled new film.  Anderson and Focus Features collaborated on his last feature Phantom Thread, which garnered 6 Academy Award® nominations including Best Picture, Director for Anderson, Actor for Daniel Day-Lewis, Supporting Actress for Lesley Manville, Score for Jonny Greenwood and Costume Design for Mark Bridges, which he went on to win.  Longtime collaborators JoAnne Sellar and Daniel Lupi will produce this new project along with Anderson. 

Grammy-nominated singer, songwriter and musician Tyler Childers performed the title track of his acclaimed new album, Country Squire, on last night's episode of “Late Night with Seth Meyers.”

Fifteen screenwriters will convene to advance their independent projects at Sundance Institute's January Screenwriters Lab, taking place at the Sundance Mountain Resort in Utah, from January 17-22, 2020. At the Lab, the screenwriters will immerse themselves in a rigorous and holistic creative process, working to further develop their scripts with the mentorship of accomplished Creative Advisors.

The New York Times is pleased to announce Forward: Twenty Years of TimesTalks, a new photobook of black-and-white portraits of over 60 influential artists, actors, filmmakers, politicians, authors, activists, and Times reporters that have participated in TimesTalks, The New York Times live conversation series, including Marina Abramovic, Tilda Swinton, Nan Goldin, Ai Weiwei, Marc Jacobs, and Rami Malek, along with executive editor Dean Baquet, technology reporter Jenna Wortham, investigative reporter Jodi Kantor, 'The Daily' host Michael Barbaro, and chief White House correspondent Maggie Haberman. Full list below.

Broadwayworld.com had the pleasure of interviewing Danny Mena about his career for our 'Chef Spotlight.'

Ovation, America's only arts network, announced today their full slate of holiday programming for winter 2019. Starting Monday, December 9, the arts network will begin airing holiday films as well as special holiday episodes from such series as The Art Of, Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations, The Librarians, Travel Man, and Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries. All holiday programming will also be available on VOD and on the Ovation NOW app.

CNN Films, HBO Max, and Focus Features are partnering for a documentary film about the uncommon life of the late storyteller, explorer, and chef, Anthony Bourdain, to be directed and produced by Academy Award-winning director Morgan Neville (20 Feet from Stardom). Focus Features will first release the documentary exclusively in theaters worldwide before the film premieres on television on CNN and streams via HBO Max. CNN Films and HBO Max will executive produce the film. Neville's Tremolo Productions will produce the film.

From executive producer Anthony Bourdain, “WASTED! The Story of Food Waste” aims to change the way people buy, cook, recycle, and eat food. Through the eyes of celebrity chefs like Bourdain, Dan Barber, Mario Batali, Massimo Bottura, and Danny Bowien, audiences will see how the world's most influential chefs make the most of every kind of food, transforming what most people consider scraps into incredible dishes that create a more secure food system. “WASTED! The Story of Food Waste” (Anna Chai & Nari Kye | 2017 | 85 min. | USA) is a documentary examining the issue of food waste, its contribution to climate change, and how we all can make small changes, all of them delicious, to solve one of the greatest problems of the 21st Century.

New Chef at Hotel Washington 'When I boarded the ferry in the middle of January, the prow grinding through broken Lake Michigan ice, and fell in love with the island in the dead of winter, I knew it was for real,' says Matt Poole, the new chef for Hotel Washington. A Midwest native, Poole has lived in the Bay Area for the last five years working first at Desco, a regional Italian restaurant in Oakland and then the premier farm-to-table institution Chez Panisse in Berkeley. Working under chef Simone Ferrara at Desco, Poole learned the values of Italian cooking, nuanced yet simple flavors in perfect balance and in time with the seasons. He moved to Chez Panisse in 2016 where he gladly took to the challenge of cooking a daily-changing menu utilizing a never-ending parade of the best meats and vegetables. Chez Panisse, founded by the visionary restaurateur Alice Waters in 1971, has built deep relationships with farmers, ranchers and orchardists to bring the best of the generous California seasons to its guests. His time on the west coast refined his culinary skills and also showed him how restaurants can build and sustain a community. 'I've seen how they have the power to nourish people and surprise them, to build economies around passionate producers and nurture the people whom they employ,' says Poole. But Poole didn't always want to be a chef. After graduating from Calvin College in Grand Rapids, MI with a Fine Arts degree, he started an art gallery, traveled, collected records and started a record label for his 30th birthday. At 31, he weaseled his way into the kitchen at Marie Catrib's, the beloved Grand Rapids restaurant where he had been working in the deli. Sharing a tiny prep table with Catrib and his first mentor Jill Henemeyer, Poole fell in love with food as the perfect blend of creativity, craft and community. He says, 'All the loose ends of my life came together in cooking.' Getting a late start to cooking, Poole decided he needed to make a big move to catch up. 'I remember reading Kitchen Confidential by Anthony Bourdain where he basically said if one didn't start cooking at 20, he missed his chance. But Bourdain also impressed upon me how if one is willing to put up with long hours in hot kitchens, tired and sore, and one can't imagine being anywhere else he are crazy enough to be a cook,' says Poole. So he packed up and moved west. The abundance he found there was a revelation. He marveled at tender dates, ten varieties of broccoli at the farmers market, citrus growing in front yards and seafood glistening and smelling of fresh ocean air. He learned to prepare everything California had to offer, but began to wonder what farm-to-table cuisine would look like back along the shores of the Great Lakes. At the same time a college friend, Russell Rolffs of Hoot Blossom Farm on Washington Island, texted him out of the blue asking if he'd consider moving back to the Midwest. For the next year and a half, Poole and Rolffs stayed in touch, talking about the vegetables and herbs they were excited about, menu ideas, and Island life. 'Matt told me about a type of basil he was using at Chez Panisse called Piccolo Fino or Fino Verde, a fine leaf basil that is superbly aromatic. I tried growing it last summer and it grew well for us. I was so pleased,' says Rolffs. In February 2019, Matt Poole decided he too wanted to take the leap and leave his work in California to join forces with Hotel Washington. Poole recruited two friends to join him in his new adventure. He met Baker and Pastry Chef Amanda Ebenhoeh and Sous Chef Ian Milosek while working at Marie Catrib's. They are both Michigan natives and looking forward to reconnecting with Poole. The new Hotel Washington team will work with Hoot Blossom Farm, Folk Tree Farm and other growers on the Island and start partnering with foragers and other Wisconsin producers. "This is our chance to see what is happening on the Island already," says Poole. "What grows here, what the land wants to make, what the people are hungry for. We get to harness our skills to take all this and make something beautiful and delicious with it," says Poole. The Restaurant will serve a special Mother's Day Brunch on Sunday, May 12 at 11 am to 2 pm. The following Saturday and Sunday, May 18 and 19, 4:30 - 8:30, the restaurant invites Islanders for a preview of the menu. The season officially opens Tuesday, May 21 for dinner seven nights a week through October from 4:30 - 8:30. For reservations, call 920-847-3010. About Hotel Washington and Studio Hotel Washington and Studio is a historic hotel with eight second-floor sleeping rooms, a yoga studio, and a restaurant open May through October featuring a seasonal, farm-fresh menu. First opened in 1904, the Hotel is now in its fifth season with owner Jean Kokes. Located on the scenic Detroit Harbor of Washington Island, WI, the Hotel offers the perfect venue for retreats, weddings, and getaways. www.hotelwashingtonandstudio.com / 920-847-3010 / 354 Range Line Road, WI, 54246.

Acclaimed singer, songwriter and musician Tyler Childers will make his sold-out headline debut at Red Rocks Amphitheatre this Monday, September 30. In celebration of this milestone, the show—featuring special guest Robert Earl Keen—will stream live via Childers' YouTube Channel beginning at 9:30pm MT.

Acclaimed singer, songwriter and musician Tyler Childers will perform two special shows at Pikeville, KY's Appalachian Wireless Arena on Saturday, December 28 and Tuesday, December 31. Tickets for the “New Year's Eve Run 2019” are available for pre-sale starting tomorrow, September 18 at 10:00am ET with public on-sale following this Friday, September 20 at 10:00am ET. 

Last night the Creative Arts Emmy Awards were presented!

TimesTalks, The New York Times live conversation and performance series, is proud to announce its Fall 2019 Program, featuring intimate conversations that pair Times journalists with today's most creative and influential voices in the fields of film, technology, politics, music, literature and science.

Tyler Childers' highly anticipated new album, Country Squire, is out today via Hickman Holler Records/RCA Records.  Childers' first release in partnership with RCA Records, Country Squire was produced by Sturgill Simpson and David Ferguson and recorded The Butcher Shoppe in Nashville.  

The official music video for Tyler Childers' new single 'All Your'n' premieres today. Rolling Stone hails the track as 'packed full of characteristic lyrical detail and writerly flourishes,' while Brooklyn Vegan calls it 'a summery, easy-going tune with plenty of twang.'

With a little raunch and a lot of heart, If These Balls Could Talk! gives you a glimpse of the performer's life in the big city; it's a whirlwind tour, and well worth the ride. Valentino's charisma and her ease with the audience are wonderful, evidence that we indeed have a seasoned performer who knows her way around the warm lights downstage. She also generously brings audience members up onstage to be part of the fun-so come prepared for some good-humored ribbing with your entertainment!

Last night, TimesTalks hosted a lively conversation with multi-platinum selling band Jonas Brothers and Ryan Tedder, the Grammy award winning singer, songwriter, producer and founder of the multi-platinum selling band OneRepublic.