Kamala Harris Sets First VP Campaign Event With Support From Reese Witherspoon, Mindy Kaling

Following Tuesday’s announcement of Kamala Harris as Joe Biden’s running mate, the California senator has wasted no time hitting the campaign trail — with her first stop in Hollywood.

The vice presidential nominee will hold her first solo event of the campaign in a launch fundraiser co-chaired by Nicole Avant, former U.S. Ambassador to the Bahamas and wife of Netflix boss Ted Sarandos, and Ambassador Colleen Bell, director of the California Film Commission, along with Mindy Kaling, Reese Witherspoon, Shonda Rhimes, Tory Burch, Amy Griffin, California Lt. Governor Eleni Kounalakis, Mai Lassiter, wife of producer James Lassiter; and Shannon Rotenberg, executive director of Matthew McConaughey’s just keep livin Foundation. Ticket prices will range from $500 for guests to $50,000 for “Champions” and $100,000 for co-chairs. The maximum allowable donation to the Biden Victory Fund is $730,600. Time and date have not yet been set for the virtual event, which will be open to the public.

“Nicole and I have been friends for 25 years and also worked on the Obama campaigns together on the National Finance Team, so we have been preparing for this for sometime. Whoever the nominee, we were prepared to gather people from all over the country to show our enthusiastic support,” Bell, who is a member of Biden’s finance team outside of her commission position, tells The Hollywood Reporter. “Now, the VP candidate is Kamala, who we have both known for many years, so this is very exciting. It is a historic moment, and I am thrilled to help lead the charge to harness all the support we possibly can to make sure Senator Harris and VP Biden are elected.”

Harris’ event follows her and Biden’s first ticket event on Wednesday, a grassroots fundraiser in Delaware; the campaign says it has raised $34 million in the less than 48 hours since Harris was announced.

It’s no surprise that Harris would come to Hollywood to kick off her VP run, as the entertainment industry heavily embraced her during her presidential campaign. Some 48 percent of the 2020 donations made by members of The Hollywood Reporter’s THR 100 list — an annual ranking of the most powerful people in the entertainment industry — went to Harris’ campaign, amounting to $73,580, according to Federal Election Commission data disclosed in July 2019. Joe Biden’s presidential bid came in second place, bringing in $22,400, or 15 percent of the total 2020 donation pool.

Some of her biggest previous donors include J.J. Abrams, Anthony Anderson, Elizabeth Banks, Eva Longoria, Ryan Murphy, Alfre Woodard, Walt Disney Studios co-chairman Alan Horn and ICM Partners managing director Chris Silbermann. During Sen. Harris’ presidential run, she hosted a string of L.A. fundraisers in July 2019, including a luncheon at the home of real estate developer Tom Safran, followed by an event at the home of former U.S. Ambassador John B. Emerson that was co-hosted by Ron Silverman, Cooper Hefner and Ellen Goldsmith-Vein.

(THR)

Kerry Washington guest hosted US talk show Jimmy Kimmel Live on Monday, and had Reese on as a guest. They talked about Reese’s Emmy nominations, how the virtual awards ceremony is going to work this year, Deacon, embarrassing her kids, her first business in the third-grade, and failure:

• Jimmy Kimmel Live – August 17th 2020 (Screencaptures) x425

Kerry Washington talked about Reese’s Emmy snub and Little Fires Everywhere in a recent interview with Variety:

Congratulations on your four nominations! We have a lot to talk about. Let’s start with “Little Fires Everywhere.” When will we see Season 2?

We have no plans for a Season 2 [laughs]. We really don’t. I mean, every once in a while we think, like, can we come up with an idea for Season 2 because we just love working together? This group, Liz Tigelaar and Hello Sunshine and Simpson Street, if I could work every day with Reese Witherspoon for the rest of my life, I would. She is just a dream, and my sister really. But we don’t have plans for a Season 2. We have other projects in development.

Were you surprised Reese didn’t get an acting nomination for “Little Fires”?

I was. Should I admit this? I was a little angry. I mean, it’s wonderful to have the nomination for the show because that means that nomination belongs to everyone. But to be honest with you, since early in my career, having watched the campaign for Jamie Foxx for “Ray” and to watch Forest Whitaker with “Last King of Scotland” and to be kind of in this awards game for a really long time, because I’ve been blessed to be a part of an experience that have been awards contenders, I also get that I have a really tricky relationship with award shows. I try to receive the beauty of it, but without letting it define who I am or how I feel.

(Variety)

Join Reese as she takes a trip down memory lane and thanks author Marian Wright Edelman for her inspiring book, The Measure of Our Success: A Letter to My Children and Yours.

Hello Sunshine x Mailchimp present: Book Shook. A series where powerful women discuss the books that moved them, changing their lives just when they needed it most. Join us on their journeys well beyond the page.

Apple Orders Country Music Competition Series With Reese Witherspoon Producing

Apple is getting into the music competition series space.

The streamer has ordered the series “My Kind of Country,” which will feature a global search for country music talent. Per Apple, the series will feature a documentary component as it hunts for “unconventional and extraordinary” country music stars.

Adam Blackstone will serve as the musical director on the series. Blackstone has previously worked with artists such as Justin Timberlake, Alicia Keys, Faith Hill, Rihanna, and Tim McGraw.

Reese Witherspoon, Lauren Neustadter, and Cynthia Stockhammer will executive produce via Hello Sunshine. Jason Owen, president and CEO of Sandbox Entertainment, will also serve as executive producer alongside Izzie Pick Ibarra, the showrunner behind “The Masked Singer” and “Dancing With the Stars.” Done + Dusted’s Katy Mullan and Melanie Fletcher will also executive produce.

“My Kind of Country” now marks the third project Hello Sunshine has set up at Apple. The company currently produces the drama series “The Morning Show,” in which Witherspoon also stars. The show was recently nominated for eight Emmy Awards. Hello Sunshine also produces the Apple drama series “Truth Be Told” starring Octavia Spencer. “The Morning Show” received a two season order when it was first picked up by Apple, while “Truth Be Told” was renewed for a second season back in March.

“My Kind of Country” is the first competition series ordered by Apple TV Plus, but it is not the first time that Apple has produced a competition series. Apple Music previously aired the show “Planet of the Apps,” in which software makers would pitch their product ideas to a panel of experts. The show was canceled after one season in 2017.

(Deadline)

Lynn Shelton to Receive American Cinematheque Salute With Marc Maron, Reese Witherspoon and Kerry Washington

American Cinematheque will shine a spotlight on director Lynn Shelton Aug. 25 at 7 p.m. PT with a salute that will focus on her work for the small screen and streaming platforms. The tribute comes on the heels of her Emmy nomination for Hulu’s Little Fires Everywhere.

Shelton, who passed away May 16 from a previously unidentified blood disorder, will be remembered during the Zoom discussion by Little Fires stars and producers Kerry Washington and Reese Witherspoon, boyfriend Marc Maron and collaborators Mark Duplass, Jon Hamm, Eddie Huang, Gillian Jacobs, Kevin Murphy, and Mikaela Watkins.

The event also follows a previous American Cinematheque outing for Shelton last summer, as pointed out by head programmer Gwen Deglise. “We were so privileged to host an in-person retrospective of Lynn’s films in June 2019. Lynn was with us for the whole weekend, hosting discussions after each program, talking to audience members – he was so generous with her time and enjoyed it very much. She said during one of the Q&As that ‘there aren’t a lot of opportunities as a filmmaker to dust off your old movies and see them big, especially in an incredibly beautiful theater like this one, so I’m going to sit back and enjoy watching the history of my life as a filmmaker.’ Now we get to enjoy seeing Lynn’s incredible impact on television and streaming platforms with some of her friends and colleagues.”

Shelton’s other TV/streaming work included Netflix’s Glow, Apple TV’s The Morning Show, Hulu’s Casual, Netflix’s Love, AMC’s Mad Men, ABC’s Fresh Off the Boat and MTV’s $5 Cover: Seattle.

(THR)

It was announced back in June that Sing 2 has been pushed back a whole year – to December 22nd 2021 – due to the coronavirus pandemic.

It’s the latest revamp in Universal’s schedule in the wake of mass shuttering of multiplexes due to the coronavirus pandemic. Though movie theaters in some states have started to reopen, the majority of cinema chains are still closed.

Judd Apatow’s “The King of Staten Island,” a comedy starring Pete Davidson, will also debut on digital rental services on June 12 in lieu of a traditional theatrical rollout. In April, the studio dropped “Trolls World Tour” on video-on-demand and in drive-ins. Meanwhile, “Fast and Furious” installment “F9,” the next “Minions” sequel, and “Sing 2” were all pushed into 2021. (Variety)

The Gallery has been updated with an additional batch of high quality photos of Reese on the red carpet at the 2017 Emmy Awards! She looked chic in her blue satin jacket dress by Stella McCartney whilst reaping the awards for Big Little Lies. Enjoy:

• The Emmys – Red Carpet x294