Keanu Reeves has been invited to play bass for Soft Play at Coachella on Sunday (20.04.25)
Punk duo Soft Play have put out a call for Keanu Reeves to perform their 'John Wick' song at Coachella.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Forbes
10 hours ago
- Forbes
Directing ‘The Rose: Come Back To Me' Felt Just Right To Eugene Yi
When Eugene Yi was asked to direct the music documentary The Rose: Come Back To Me, it was an easy decision. 'I've always been interested in Korean rock and roll,' said Yi. "For myself, growing up as a Korean American here, I was always exposed to k-pop and Korean popular culture, but it was always harder to come across rock music. It just wasn't quite as mainstream. And for me growing up here, loving rock and roll, it was this breath of fresh air. It's like, ah, this feels good to me.' The film documents the journey of The Rose, the Korean indie rock group composed of Woosung Kim (Sammy), Dojoon Park (Leo), Taegyeom Lee (Jeff), and Hajoon Lee (Dylan) from their beginnings as k-pop trainees to their band's appearance at Coachella. As a filmmaker Yi is drawn to Asian American stories and stories that focus on diasporic communities. Together with Julie Ha, he directed Free Chol Soo Lee, a film about a Korean immigrant unjustly accused of a Chinatown gangland murder. While The Rose: Come Back To Me may seem like a far cry from his first film, Yi sees similarities in the ways it explores cultural interface. Two members of The Rose spent time growing up outside of Korea. Woosung was born in Korea, but grew up in the U.S. Dohoon spent some of his childhood in New Zealand. Taegyeom and Hajoon grew up in Korea. The band's musical influences are global, which helped to create their distinctive sound. '"I think it's really fascinating the path that they've been on and the mix of guys in the band,' said Yi. Eugene Yi directed 'The Rose: Come Back To Me.' Eugene Yi As a rule, k-pop bands do not form organically. They are usually formed by entertainment companies with a concept in mind. Trainees sign up for a disciplined system that requires them to live and train together, often for years before they debut. While the k-pop training system has launched the careers of many talented performers, it's not ideal for everyone. After starting out as k-pop trainees, the members of The Rose each realized the system did not give them enough creative freedom. So, they struck out on their own, with three members busking on the street, before Woosung joined them as a front man. The band released their first song, 'Sorry' in 2017 and by 2018 Billboard pronounced them one of the 'top five k-pop groups to watch.' 'I thought there was just something really powerful about that,' said Yi. 'They really are choosing to do this music with each other. On some level it's a very familiar story for a lot of European or American or Latin American bands, but just one that you hear less of in Korea. In that way, being able to hear a lesser heard story, that was something that really, really resonated with me, as well as in terms of giving a much rounder vision and look into what it is to be a Korean musician and a Korean artist right now. That there isn't just this one way to do things. For them, the fact that they were able to exercise that agency, is just something that's so central to them. They really chose their own destiny and decided to do things their own way. I love that part of their story.' Filming began in the summer of 2023 and lasted until mid 2024. Shot in Los Angeles and in Korea, the story culminates with the band's memorable performance at Coachella. Part of getting the film just right, said Yi, was deciding how much of the band's music to include, which he accomplished with the help of editor David E. Simpson. 'It was interesting to try and figure out how much music is too much music and how much music needs to necessarily make narrative sense, for it to make emotional sense, if that makes sense,' said Yi. 'There's that scene that David put in where he edited one of the songs, 'You're Beautiful,' in the midst of the scene about their fandom and their fan base. It was this wonderful moment where the footage and the song and the feeling that the song evokes really all came together in a way that made it feel like, okay, this is the music documentary magic doing its thing, where this serves both a narrative purpose and an emotional purpose. Even if it doesn't necessarily fit an outline or a timeline or anything like that, this just felt right.' The film includes intimate conversations with the band's members, often focusing on their personal and professional struggles. Taegyeom spoke about his mental health struggles, which Yi felt was important to include. Yi describes Taegyeom as the heart of the film. His struggles illustrate the band's message that music can be healing. 'So much of his difficulties and the candor with which he spoke about it really took me aback,' said Yi. 'It was really bracing and not something that I feel like I had heard much of in terms of when people are talking about what they've been through. Because of its connection to the theme of healing and because of the beautiful art that came out of it, how he was able to take that and turn that into music. It seemed to encapsulate something that was really central about the band.' Trust had to be an essential part of the collaboration. 'We did consult with the guys as we were working on the film,' said Yi. 'We tried to make sure that they felt comfortable with our approach to a lot of these very sensitive topics that we're talking about, because some of these topics are still very difficult to talk about, for anybody, but there's a specific South Korean context to it, as well as their own individual comfort.' The band, which currently has more fans in the U.S., Indonesia, the Philippines and Mexico than it does in Korea, is managed by Transparent Arts, a company founded by Asian American electro hip-hop group Far East Movement. While the film can be seen as a primer on staying true to your own creative goals, it doesn't sugarcoat how difficult that process can be, 'I think it's harder to see how bumpy that road can be,' said Yi. 'And how hard it can be at times to keep your eyes on that signal light that you're trying to follow in terms of what's important to you. I certainly had those experiences in my life where in creative collaboration or creative expression, you sort of start to lose your way.' Yi, who worked as a film editor and in print journalism before turning to directing, enjoys making documentaries and sharing the stories of real people. He describes the inspiring story of The Rose as a tale of perseverance. 'They had every single possible thing that could happen to a Korean musician happen to them that could have easily derailed their career," he said. "But their perseverance is really something that I found inspiring, not just to their music, but to each other. Something about that really stayed with me." The Rose: Come Back To Me premiered last week at the Tribeca festival and also airs at the festival on June 12 and 15. The Rose is currently on their Once Upon A WRLD tour.
Yahoo
21 hours ago
- Yahoo
Paramount Cutting Another 3.5% Of Its Domestic Workforce, Citing Linear TV Declines And Broader Economy
Paramount Global, which last year shed 15% of its U.S. workforce, said Tuesday it will reduce it by another 3.5%. The cuts will take effect Tuesday, according to a memo from Co-CEOs George Cheeks, Chris McCarthy and Brian Robbins that was obtained by Deadline. More from Deadline Paramount Global CFO Naveen Chopra Is Departing '60 Minutes' Correspondent Scott Pelley Says Trump Lawsuit Settlement & Apology Would Be "Very Damaging" To Reputation Of CBS And Paramount Shari Redstone Reveals She Is Undergoing Treatment For Thyroid Cancer 'As we navigate the continued industry-wide linear declines and dynamic macro-economic environment, while prioritizing investments in our growing streaming business, we are taking the hard, but necessary steps to further streamline our organization starting this week,' the execs wrote. Paramount is still in a protracted waiting game as it looks to close its $8 billion merger with Skydance Media. The transaction was proposed last summer and needs only the approval of the FCC in order to close, but it now appears unlikely to close in the first half of the year as the companies had projected. President Donald Trump's crusade against the media (in this case CBS News) is holding up the deal despite the fact that Paramount controlling shareholder Shari Redstone and Skydance backer Larry Ellison are longtime Trump supporters. Along with filing a $20 billion lawsuit over routine business activities at 60 Minutes, Trump's appointee to chair the FCC, Brendan Carr, has slow-walked the agency's review of the merger. While mediation talks are ongoing in the lawsuit, hopes have not recently been high for a near-term settlement. While the new layoffs are targeting domestic workers, the Co-CEOs said they 'may also result in some impacts to our workforce outside the U.S. over time.' At the end of 2024, Paramount had 18,600 global employees, with Tuesday's cutbacks affecting several hundred in the U.S. As opposed to the multi-phase layoffs last year, which were announced in the summer and wrapped by year-end, the new round is taking effect Tuesday. 'We recognize how difficult this is and are very thankful for everyone's hard work and contributions,' the CEOs wrote. 'These changes are necessary to address the environment we are operating in and best position Paramount for success.' The shrinking of Paramount's workforce reflects contraction across the entire media sector, with Disney recently announcing a fresh round of cuts as companies reckon with cord-cutting's hit to their pay-TV revenues. Best of Deadline Sean 'Diddy' Combs Sex-Trafficking Trial Updates: Cassie Ventura's Testimony, $10M Hotel Settlement, Drugs, Violence, & The Feds A Full Timeline Of Blake Lively & Justin Baldoni's 'It Ends With Us' Feud In Court, Online & In The Media Where To Watch All The 'John Wick' Movies: Streamers That Have All Four Films Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Yahoo
21 hours ago
- Yahoo
Paramount Global CFO Naveen Chopra Is Departing
Paramount Global said Monday that its chief financial officer Naveen Chopra is departing 'to pursue other opportunities' as the company still awaits FCC approval for the merger with Skydance it announced almost a year ago. Andrew Warren, currently strategic advisor to the Office of the CEO, will assume the additional role of EVP, Interim Chief Financial Officer. Warren is the former CFO of Discovery Communications, the NBCUniversal Television Group and STX Entertainment. More from Deadline '60 Minutes' Correspondent Scott Pelley Says Trump Lawsuit Settlement & Apology Would Be "Very Damaging" To Reputation Of CBS And Paramount Shari Redstone Reveals She Is Undergoing Treatment For Thyroid Cancer Paramount Will Be A "Melting Ice Cube" If Trump Dooms Skydance Deal, Ex-FCC Commissioner Rob McDowell Says - But Even A 2-Member Agency Could Still Approve It 'We thank Naveen for his leadership role during a dynamic period of transformation and growth,' said Paramount's co-CEOs George Cheeks, Chris McCarthy and Brian Robbins in a press release today. 'We are excited to partner with Andy, who has been our strategic advisor, in his new, expanded role as interim CFO and we are confident that his deep financial expertise and familiarity with our business make him exceptionally well-suited to step into this position.' At Discovery, Warren was instrumental in driving strategic initiatives and growing the global business footprint, the announcement said. In his current role as strategic advisor to the Office of the CEO at Paramount, he has worked closely with senior leadership on key financial and strategic priorities. Cheeks, McCarthy and Robbins have been running the company since former CEO Bob Bakish was pushed out as Paramount Global's controlling shareholder Shari Redstone attempted to clinch a sale. It's an unusual arrangement meant to be temporary as the company ultimately passed to David Ellison's Skydance Media. But the Trump administration and commissioner he promoted to lead the FCC, Brendan Carr hasn't signaled anything happening any time soon. Donald Trump has sued CBS and 60 Minutes for $20 billion over how the newsmagazine edited an interview with Kamala Harris and that suit has caused the network, company and Redstone no end of grief as settling what many consider a specious lawsuit is complicated, but not settling it is is too with the deal under review by commission. Redstone also recently revealed she is being treated for thyroid cancer. Best of Deadline Sean 'Diddy' Combs Sex-Trafficking Trial Updates: Cassie Ventura's Testimony, $10M Hotel Settlement, Drugs, Violence, & The Feds A Full Timeline Of Blake Lively & Justin Baldoni's 'It Ends With Us' Feud In Court, Online & In The Media Where To Watch All The 'John Wick' Movies: Streamers That Have All Four Films Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
