Latest news with #filmproducer
Times
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Times
Sall Grover: I saw a man, not a woman, says app founder in trans lawsuit
As a 27-year-old Hollywood scriptwriter, Sall Grover was dumbstruck when a film producer offered her work and then plunged his hands down her pants. She fled and called her manager, only to be left stunned again. 'He goes, 'This is great. He wants you to write him a script',' Grover said. That experience and others, such as the Hollywood landlords who offered young women free accommodation if they did not wear clothes, left Grover disillusioned upon her return to Australia after a decade away. Encouraged by her mother, she decided to create an app exclusively for women — a space, as she describes it, where women could 'just talk and connect about anything they wanted to'. Or, as she told a court: 'It would be a place without harassment, mansplaining, dick pics, stalking and aggression, and other male patterned online behaviour.'
Times
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Times
I saw a man, not a woman, says female app founder in trans lawsuit
As a 27-year-old Hollywood scriptwriter, Sall Grover was dumbstruck when a film producer offered her work and then plunged his hands down her pants. She fled and called her manager, only to be left stunned again. 'He goes, 'This is great. He wants you to write him a script',' Grover said. That experience and others, such as the Hollywood landlords who offered young women free accommodation if they did not wear clothes, left Grover disillusioned upon her return to Australia after a decade away. Encouraged by her mother, she decided to create an app exclusively for women — a space, as she describes it, where women could 'just talk and connect about anything they wanted to'. Or, as she told a court: 'It would be a place without harassment, mansplaining, dick pics, stalking and aggression, and other male patterned online behaviour.'
Times
04-08-2025
- Entertainment
- Times
The new status symbol? It's a dirty kitchen
The new luxury among people with pockets deep enough doesn't sound luxurious at all: a dirty kitchen. Those in the know can confirm that a dirty kitchen isn't an excuse for filth but rather a take on the scullery: a multipurpose secondary kitchen concealing the less aesthetic nuts and bolts of modern life. According to Emma Sims-Hilditch, a Cotswolds-based interior designer and former film producer who worked alongside Ridley Scott, it's all about accommodating 'preparation and unglamorous chores such as pot washing and culinary storage'. As formal dining rooms have been relegated from everyday usage, kitchens have become less 'kitcheny', evolving into open-plan living spaces that spill into lounges, where hosting and hanging out sit on a par with these rooms' original purpose: cooking. • Read more expert advice on property, interiors and home improvement Yet the middle-class realities of these more informal dining experiences — laissez-faire get-togethers draped around a kitchen island where assorted dinner party detritus accumulates and hosts end up trying to maintain a conversation above the clatter of clearing up — become precisely the antithesis of the relaxed, sophisticated evening that said hosts were trying to orchestrate in the first place. Indeed, nothing ruins a perfectly curated chichi living and kitchen space like actual food preparation and all the mess that goes with it. The collection of (often intrinsically unbeautiful) gadgetry that inhabits the kitchens of 2025 — from the chunky air fryer to the bean-to-cup coffee machine and four-slice toaster, all with trailing wires — has sparked a desire for an adjoining dirty kitchen. This keeps the main (or 'show') kitchen as an immaculate space dedicated to hosting and socialising, plating and performance — and undisturbed by the day-to-day running of the house. This bourgeois detail isn't 'necessarily some flashy new trend — really just a return to how the best houses have always been run', says Lindsay Cuthill, the co-founder of the Blue Book estate agency. 'Go back a couple of hundred years and any serious country house would have had several kitchens: a pastry room, a scullery, a main prep kitchen. These were practical spaces, tucked well out of sight, so the cooking — often hot, messy and full of strong smells — didn't drift into the formal parts of the house.' That same thinking is coming back, Cuthill says. 'Whether it's a private chef or the owner doing the cooking, it's often happening in a fully kitted-out second kitchen nearby, leaving the main space spotless, calm and ready for entertaining.' • The key decisions to make when planning a kitchen renovation Set up in the 1930s, the interiors studio Sibyl Colefax & John Fowler is the oldest decorating firm in England, often considered the originator of that elegantly layered English country house style of pattern, carpet and comfort. The joint managing director Philip Hooper has a dirty kitchen in his Georgian pile in Somerset but finds the term 'a bit of a weird euphemism'. Rather, he sees these rooms as 'a prep kitchen, a servery, a pantry all rolled into one' — a place for veg storage, for chopping and peeling, and the necessary accoutrements of refuse and recycling — while 'the more glamorous side of preparation and cooking will happen in the main kitchen, where you can show off your culinary skills'. 'They do function side by side but they also function independently of one another,' Hooper says. 'So the dirty kitchen will actually have most things that the main kitchen has but on a smaller scale. [At home] my eating room has the Aga in it and the prep kitchen has got everything else in it.' The firm transformed a former rectory in the Cotswolds (the home of the film producer Pippa Harris), adding a second, dirty kitchen as a separate space. While both have 'that plain English type of look' (ie classic Shaker-style frames), the dirty kitchen is delineated with blue painted cabinetry and 'much more forgiving' black granite worktops, a foil to the main kitchen, with pale stone-topped cabinets in Paint & Paper Library's shade Stone V and a dining table made by Petter Southall 'which you clearly wouldn't want people chopping things up on'. At Blakes, a high-end kitchen designer, dirty kitchens are often hidden behind glazed doors leading into the main kitchen, or even a Narnia door, which blends so well into the cabinets that you barely see it. According to Magnus Nilsson, Blakes's lead designer, frequent client requests include a secondary dishwasher, sink and draining board, plus plenty of storage 'for your air fryers and juicers and all of the machines that you don't necessarily want to have on show in an entertainment space', alongside microwaves and, in fully blown set-ups, a supplementary oven and hob. Nilsson adds that the focus is on reducing the cost and increasing durability. He often specifies worktop materials such as the composites Caesarstone and Silestone or heatproof ceramic, and says that 'in the main kitchen, it's all about showpieces of marble'. In north London the interior designer Andrew Griffiths (founder of the studio A New Day) works predominantly on large-scale renovations in neighbourhoods such as Hampstead and Highgate. 'Where the square footage allows [the dirty kitchen] is absolutely something that we are seeing become more popular,' he says. A New Day recently put the finishing touches to a dirty kitchen as part of a project in north London. 'It's a much smaller, enclosed space than the main kitchen, with no outside windows,' Griffiths says. 'When you open the double doors it acts as an extension of the kitchen but it's also very discreet, so you can close the doors and it looks a bit like a cupboard. Day to day, it's a space where the dogs can feed and water but, at the moment the clients have friends or family over, it kicks in as that secondary kitchen space that no one sees apart from the hosts. 'Aesthetic-wise, it ties into the kitchen, but the materials are a bit lower spec and the quartz worktop means you're able to shove dirty plates and wine glasses down, and not worry about them for four hours until hosting is done,' he says, meaning the Carrara marble-topped island remains unblemished.
Yahoo
27-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Chua Lam, legendary Hong Kong food critic and filmmaker, dies at 83
KUALA LUMPUR, June 28 — Renowned food critic, columnist, and film producer Chua Lam, celebrated as one of the 'Four Talents of Hong Kong,' passed away on Wednesday at the age of 83, according to the South China Morning Post. A statement on his official Facebook page confirmed his death at the Hong Kong Sanatorium and Hospital, surrounded by family and friends. Per his wishes, no ceremony was held, and his body was cremated to avoid inconveniencing loved ones. According to the South China Morning Post (SCMP), born in Singapore in 1941, Chua's illustrious career spanned multiple fields, leaving a lasting mark on Hong Kong's cultural and culinary landscapes. At just 14, he published his first article in Nanyang Siang Pau. He later moved to Japan to study film and settled in Hong Kong in 1963, where he worked with iconic studios like Shaw Brothers and Golden Harvest. Among his notable film productions were Jackie Chan's Wheels on Meals, Armour of God, and Mr Nice Guy. Chua was a celebrated figure in food journalism, known for his discerning palate and dedication to uncovering the finest culinary experiences. He authored numerous travel journals and food critiques and hosted acclaimed shows such as Celebrity Talk Show, which featured Hong Kong's biggest stars of the era, including Leslie Cheung and Maggie Cheung. SCMP in its report said that in addition to his columns and books, Chua organised culinary tours across Asia and the world, sampling multiple dishes daily to identify and recommend the best local specialities. His influence extended to consulting on popular food documentaries such as A Bite of China and Once Upon a Bite. Despite personal challenges, including a severe hip injury and the loss of his wife in recent years, Chua continued to inspire through his reflections on life and food. His final memoir, Lived, released earlier this year, shared his vibrant experiences, resilience, and deep appreciation for gastronomy. According to the report, Chua's contributions earned him a place among the 'Four Talents of Hong Kong,' alongside literary and cultural giants Jin Yong, Ni Kuang, and James Wong. His legacy continues to shape the city's cultural and culinary heritage, marking the end of an era in Hong Kong's entertainment and food scene.
Malay Mail
27-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Malay Mail
Chua Lam, legendary Hong Kong food critic and filmmaker, dies at 83
KUALA LUMPUR, June 28 — Renowned food critic, columnist, and film producer Chua Lam, celebrated as one of the 'Four Talents of Hong Kong,' passed away on Wednesday at the age of 83, according to the South China Morning Post. A statement on his official Facebook page confirmed his death at the Hong Kong Sanatorium and Hospital, surrounded by family and friends. Per his wishes, no ceremony was held, and his body was cremated to avoid inconveniencing loved ones. According to the South China Morning Post (SCMP), born in Singapore in 1941, Chua's illustrious career spanned multiple fields, leaving a lasting mark on Hong Kong's cultural and culinary landscapes. At just 14, he published his first article in Nanyang Siang Pau. He later moved to Japan to study film and settled in Hong Kong in 1963, where he worked with iconic studios like Shaw Brothers and Golden Harvest. Among his notable film productions were Jackie Chan's Wheels on Meals, Armour of God, and Mr Nice Guy. Chua was a celebrated figure in food journalism, known for his discerning palate and dedication to uncovering the finest culinary experiences. He authored numerous travel journals and food critiques and hosted acclaimed shows such as Celebrity Talk Show, which featured Hong Kong's biggest stars of the era, including Leslie Cheung and Maggie Cheung. SCMP in its report said that in addition to his columns and books, Chua organised culinary tours across Asia and the world, sampling multiple dishes daily to identify and recommend the best local specialities. His influence extended to consulting on popular food documentaries such as A Bite of China and Once Upon a Bite. Despite personal challenges, including a severe hip injury and the loss of his wife in recent years, Chua continued to inspire through his reflections on life and food. His final memoir, Lived, released earlier this year, shared his vibrant experiences, resilience, and deep appreciation for gastronomy. According to the report, Chua's contributions earned him a place among the 'Four Talents of Hong Kong,' alongside literary and cultural giants Jin Yong, Ni Kuang, and James Wong. His legacy continues to shape the city's cultural and culinary heritage, marking the end of an era in Hong Kong's entertainment and food scene.
