Latest news with #Much
Yahoo
10-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
‘Too Much' Trailer: Lena Dunham Directs Her Semi-Autobiographical Series with Megan Stalter and Will Sharpe
Lena Dunham wants audiences to lean into being 'Too Much' sometimes. The 'Girls' creator is back on TV — this time writing, directing, and executive-producing the series 'Too Much' for Netflix. 'Hacks' breakout star Megan Stalter plays the Dunham-esque Jessica, who relocates from New York to London to start fresh after a breakup. Despite planning on being alone forever, Jessica soon meets musician Felix (Will Sharpe), who challenges her to reevaluate her 30-something crisis. More from IndieWire Wayward Teens Find Solace in Horse Country During Sundance Award-Winning 'East of Wall' Trailer David Harbour Admits He's Ready for 'Stranger Things' to End: 'How Much More Story Is There?' Dunham co-created the series with her real-life husband, Luis Felber, who also serves as an executive producer and provides original music. The 10-episode show was announced in 2023. Dunham is the creator, writer, director, and executive producer, and helms eight out of 10 episodes. The official synopsis of 'Too Much' reads: Jessica (Stalter) is 'a New York workaholic in her mid-30s, reeling from a broken relationship that she thought would last forever and slowly isolating everyone she knows. When every block in New York tells a story of her own bad behavior, the only solution is to take a job in London, where she plans to live a life of solitude like a Brontë sister. But when she meets Felix (Will Sharpe) — a walking series of red flags — she finds that their unusual connection is impossible to ignore, even as it creates more problems than it solves. Now they have to ask themselves: do Americans and Brits actually speak the same language?' 'Girls' alums Rita Wilson and Andrew Rannells also star, along with Andrew Scott, Emily Ratajkowski, Naomi Watts, Stephen Fry, Michael Zegan, Janicza Bravo, Richard E. Grant, Leo Reich, Daisy Bevan, Adele Exarchopoulos, Dean-Charles Chapman, Prasanna Puwanarajah, Rhea Perlman, Kaori Momoi, and Adwoa Aboah. Dunham told Vanity Fair that 'Too Much' is a departure from her 'Girls' TV tone. 'I didn't even appreciate the luxury I was given on 'Girls' to do things like bottle episodes, where I stayed with two characters for a night, or let three characters circle around each other. It was just what made sense to me because I'd always written for low budgets,' Dunham said. 'I always felt that I had to give people the traditional A, B, and C storylines until episode five. Now I'm much more living under the motto of, 'If you feel it, go for it.' We never know how many we're going to get. You don't get six seasons of everything.' Dunham will next direct a feature about the rise and fall of FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried. Dunham will adapt the screenplay from Michael Lewis' New York Times-bestselling book, 'Going Infinite: The Rise and Fall of a New Tycoon.' The Apple Original film comes in partnership with A24. 'Too Much' premieres on Netflix July 10. Check out the trailer below. Best of IndieWire Guillermo del Toro's Favorite Movies: 56 Films the Director Wants You to See 'Song of the South': 14 Things to Know About Disney's Most Controversial Movie Nicolas Winding Refn's Favorite Films: 37 Movies the Director Wants You to See
Yahoo
11-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Juliette Powell, ravishing MuchMusic host turned insightful tech critic, dies at 54
TORONTO — Juliette Powell, who once commanded attention as the host of MuchMusic's live dance party "Electric Circus" and later as a respected commentator on the societal risks of advanced technology, has died at 54. The former television host, author and New York University faculty member was found dead at home on June 3, said Art Kleiner, the co-author of her 2023 book "The AI Dilemma." He said the cause of death was acute bacterial meningitis. It came as a shock to many friends who say Powell's energetic personality and drive to shatter barriers defined her life up until the end. "She was obviously brilliant," Kleiner said Wednesday in a phone interview. "And she had a charismatic personality." Many Canadians will remember Powell's radiance, captivating smile and towering figure best from her role as ringleader on "Electric Circus," where she mingled with the show's fashionable dancers as they moved and grooved to the latest '90s club hits. Her experience in the spotlight actually began years earlier after she moved from her birthplace in Manhattan to Montreal with her French Canadian mother. As a young adult, she entered local beauty pageants in hopes that she could challenge racial biases that were prevalent in the industry. She placed second in the Miss Montreal Pageant and became the first Black woman to win Miss Canada in 1989. The recognition opened doors to TV opportunities and Powell was eager to walk through many of them. In 1992, she joined Montreal music video channel MusiquePlus as a video jockey and the bilingual host of its weekly dance show "Bouge de là!" The station's founder, Moses Znaimer, said Wednesday in a post on X that he was struck by the young Powell's "sass" and "smarts," though he couldn't recall if she challenged him for the job or he offered it to her first. Powell held onto her TV gig while studying finance and business at McGill University. Eventually, she moved to Toronto, where Znaimer handed her the reins of "Electric Circus," which had been hosted for years by Monica Deol. Both women were beauties suited for television, and many former Much staffers acknowledge Powell had big shoes to fill. She did it with her own trademark style of warmth, frequently wrapping her long arms around people she interviewed as she floated through the open studio in downtown Toronto with her wireless microphone. "You have to be warm, you have to give of yourself," said Tony Young, also known as Much VJ Master T. "She came in there and handled it famously." When Nam Kiwanuka joined the MuchMusic team in 1999 as an intern on Rap City, Powell was already on a roll. Her weekly presence on Friday night TV, and the bilingual music video show "French Kiss," had made her a household name with teens. So Kiwanuka was surprised to learn that her office desk would be situated right next to Powell's at 299 Queen St. W., which made her a frequent observer of her mentor's enigmatic appeal. "She was one of those people that when you spoke to her, you were the only person in the room," Kiwanuka said. "There was an energy about her; she was very confident. Whenever stars came in, they seemed to be more enamored with her." Powell signed off from "Electric Circus" in 2000 by popping a bottle of champagne on-air as the dancers surround her. Together, they rushed all onto the streets outside the studio as they bobbled to the groove of a disco beat. "I will never, ever forget this," Powell said while clutching armfuls of bouquets and stuffed animals. She assured viewers she wasn't leaving TV entirely. Her next stop was as a business reporter at news channel CablePulse 24, now known as CP24, a role she insisted wasn't all so different "because money is very sexy, too." However, Powell would eventually drift away from her role as a TV personality, and friends say she became accustomed to a more private life. She founded media consulting company Powell International Entertainment Inc. and took advisory roles at the United Nations, World Economic Forum and the World Bank. In 2009, she wrote her first book "33 Million People in the Room: How to Create, Influence, and Run a Successful Business Using Social Networking. " By then, she had already found a new calling in the fast-evolving world of technology as a voice for the societal risks of world dominated by artificial intelligence. In 2014, she met Kleiner through a mutual friend who felt they could be fruitful collaborators on the ethics of tech. Kleiner said the intellectual spark between them happened quick and he saw an opportunity to work together. "She commands the room just in the way she shows up," he said, pointing to YouTube videos of her conversations about unconscious biases in technology, data ownership and privacy, as examples. The pair published the 2023 book "The AI Dilemma: 7 Principles for Responsible Technology," which explored the risks and misuses of machine learning. It expanded on her interests in the intersection of media, technology and ethics, a topic she taught as part of NYU's faculty in the interactive telecommunications program. Last year, they founded Kleiner Powell International, an AI consultancy firm for business clients, one of several projects that he said Powell was working on up until her final days. "Everyone that I talked to had some future thing they planned with Juliette." This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 11, 2025. David Friend, The Canadian Press Sign in to access your portfolio
Chicago Tribune
27-05-2025
- Business
- Chicago Tribune
Morrie Much, real estate attorney who was active in Jewish causes, dies
Chicago real estate lawyer Morrie Much co-founded the Much Shelist law firm and was active in Jewish causes, providing support to both the Holocaust Museum in Skokie and the Simon Wiesenthal Center in Los Angeles. 'He was greatly skilled at his craft, particularly in the areas of real estate, corporate law and secured lending,' said Michael Freed, a law partner of Much's for 33 years. 'He took time to understand the people with whom he was dealing and zeroed in on the important legal issues in the matters that they brought him.' Much, 86, died of complications from prostate cancer April 30 at the Northbrook Inn memory care center in Northbrook, said his son, Larry. He was a resident of Highland Park. Born in Chicago, Much was the son of immigrants from Belarus. He grew up on Oglesby Avenue in the South Shore neighborhood and attended Hyde Park High School, where he was captain of the football team and competed in track and field, setting an Illinois state record for the shot put, his family said. Much received a bachelor's degree in 1959 from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and considered becoming an architect. Ultimately, however, he decided to pursue the law, and he picked up a law degree in 1962 from the University of Chicago Law School. Much took a job with the Chicago law firm Arvey, Hodes & Mantynband. He was drawn to real estate law because his father had invested in real estate and needed help with contracts, his family said. Much later joined the Raynor Mitchell law firm, where he became a partner. When the other Raynor Mitchell partners were retiring, Much decided to start his own firm, so he teamed up with lawyer Michael Shelist to form Much Shelist. Much Shelist grew to focus not just on real estate but also on antitrust law and estate law, among other practice areas. 'When I ventured into a new practice of representing clients in antitrust litigation, it was a departure from our firm's then-existing practice specialties,' Freed said. 'But Morrie saw the potential to the practice and led the firm's decision to support me in what became a significant practice area for us.' Much Shelist grew to be an approximately 90-lawyer firm whose partners were determined to remain independent as the legal industry consolidated. 'There's still more prestige in going to the bigger law firms,' Much acknowledged to the Tribune in 1995. 'No matter what a lot of interviewees tell us, if they get a job offer from a larger firm, 9 out of 10 times they'll take it because of what they see as perceived advantages. If they come with us, however, they usually find we're more collegial, more hands-on and offer challenging work.' Mitchell S. Roth, Much Shelist's co-chairman, called Much 'your consummate founding partner who was well-respected and the way you would picture a leader of a law firm.' 'Morrie was not only a successful real estate lawyer, but he also was approachable and was a visionary,' Roth said. 'He really left a legacy of firm culture, a strong family, doing it all and being successful without having to do it all at a large (law) firm.' Much also was active in the Chicago Bar Association, chairing its continuing legal education subcommittee and its land development and construction subcommittee. Much supported the Jewish United Fund of Chicago and helped to support the construction of the Holocaust Museum in Skokie and the Simon Wiesenthal Center in Los Angeles, which is a group that has worked to combat antisemitism, perform Holocaust research and hunt down Nazi war criminals. Much retired from his firm not long after turning 75, his family said. 'He was respectful, intelligent, generous caring nurturing father who took pride in honoring his word, being honorable and ethical,' Larry Much said. 'And while he was a stickler about contracts, he liked to keep things simple when it came to documents. That is what was important to him.' Much's wife, Janet, died in January. In addition to his son, Much is survived by two daughters, Elizabeth Much and Katherine Lipschutz; and four grandchildren. Services were held.
