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Oscar-nominated screenwriter and former president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, Fay Kanin, died Wednesday. She was 95.

Kanin wrote screenplays for 1958 Clark Gable-Doris Day comedy “Teacher’s Pet”, for which she received an Oscar nomination, and the 1954 Elizabeth Taylor romantic drama “Rhapsody”.

Kanin served as president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences from 1979 to 1983, and was its second female president after actress Bette Davis. Kanin also was a longtime chairperson of the National Film Preservation Board of the Library of Congress and served on the board of the American Film Institute.

Award-winning director Adam Strange was attacked and killed yesterday by what is believed to be a great white shark while swimming at popular Muriwai Beach north of Auckland, New Zealand. Strange was 46 years old.

“All of a sudden, we saw the shark fin and next minute, boom, attack him and then blood every where on the water,” said witness Pio Mose.  “He was still alive, he put his head up, we called him to swim over [to] the rock to where we were. He raised his hand up, and then while he was rising his hand up we saw another attack pull him in the water.”

Sad new news to report today. Former New York City Mayor Edward I. Koch, star of the documentary, aptly titled Koch, opening today, died Friday morning at age 88. According to the NY Times, Mr. Koch’s spokesman, George Arzt, said the former mayor died at 2 a.m. from congestive heart failure. Mr. Koch who had experienced coronary and other medical problems since leaving office in 1989, was recently forced to miss the premiere of his documentary Koch.  Koch which […]

Mexican-American singer Jenni Rivera died Dec. 9 in a plane crash in Northern Mexico. She was 43. The small jet carrying Ms. Rivera and six other passengers crashed about 3:30 a.m. in the mountainous terrain outside Monterrey, according to the National Transportation Safety Board. There were no survivors Rivera was also an actress, appearing in the indie film “Filly Brown,” which was shown at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival, as the incarcerated mother of Filly Brown, a […]

Film director Tony Scott jumped to his death Sunday from the the Vincent Thomas Bridge in Los Angeles, California; a suicide note was found inside his black Toyota Prius. Scott, 68, younger brother of mega film producer Ridley Scott, was married to his third and current wife, actress Donna Scott and the couple have twin boys. Scott, known for his trademark red baseball cap, directed Tom Cruise in “Top Gun” and “Days of Thunder,” Eddie Murphy in “Beverly Hills Cop II,” Will Smith and Gene Hackman in “Enemy of the State,” […]

French director, Claude Miller, whose films won many awards, including the jury prize at the Cannes Film Festival and the French version of the Oscar, the César, died on April 4 in Paris. He was 70. Miller wrote and directed, “The Little Thief” about a troubled family and its offspring, other films include “Class Trip,” “A Secret,” “I’m Glad My Mother Is Alive,” and “Alias Betty.” His last film, “Thérèse Desqueyroux,” which was just selected […]

French director, Claude Miller, whose films won many awards, including the jury prize at the Cannes Film Festival and the French version of the Oscar, the César, died on April 4 in Paris. He was 70. Miller wrote and directed, “The Little Thief” about a troubled family and its offspring, other films include “Class Trip,” “A Secret,” “I’m Glad My Mother Is Alive,” and “Alias Betty.” His last film, “Thérèse Desqueyroux,” which was just selected […]

Jamaa Fanaka, director of 1979 independent film”Penitentiary” and who later made headlines with his legal battles with the Directors Guild of America alleging widespread discrimination against women and ethnic minorities in the film and television industry, has died, reports the Los Angeles Times. He was 69. Fanaka was reportedly found dead in his apartment in South Los Angeles on Sunday with the cause of death likely from complications of diabetes. Fanaka was still enrolled in […]

Mohamed Nasheed featured in the documentary ‘The Island President’ has been ousted from his post as president of the Maldives. Nasheed says he expects to be jailed after being ousted from his post earlier in the week in what he said was a coup at gunpoint. The Vice president Mohamed Waheed Hassan Manik was installed as president. Protests against Mr Nasheed’s government started after he ordered the military to arrest the criminal court chief justice. […]

  Two filmmakers, Mike deGruy, a biologist and conservationist, and Andrew Wight, a pilot and underwater cave diver, working with filmmaker James Cameron and National Geographic on a documentary film, were killed in a helicopter crash in Australia on Saturday. Andrew Wight, 52, was the documentary-producing partner of James Cameron and the two recently co-produced Andrew’s first feature film, Sanctum 3D. Mike deGruy, 60, spent 30 years producing and directing documentary films about the ocean […]

Actor Ben Gazzara, known for his strong performances on film, television and on Broadway including his role in “The Big Lebowski,” died Friday in Manhattan, New York at the age of 81. The cause was pancreatic cancer, his lawyer, Jay Julien, said. Gazzara made his movie debut in 1957 in Calder Willingham’s “The Strange One,” and followed that film with “Anatomy of a Murder” In addition to the “The Big Lebowski,”other films included Spike Lee’s […]

Documentary filmmaker Joshua Fox was arrested on Wednesday as he reportedly tried to film a House Science Committee hearing without proper media credentials. According to the NY Times, Josh Fox, whose HBO documentary “Gasland” raised questions about the safety of the natural gas drilling technique known as horizontal hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, was handcuffed and charged with unlawful entry. Mr. Fox is preparing a sequel to “Gasland  and brought a crew to film a hearing […]