GOVERNORS AWARDS HONOREE GEENA DAVIS ON ADVOCACY AND EQUITY

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Geena Davis will join the ranks of Audrey Hepburn, Gregory Peck and Oprah Winfrey when she is honoured Sunday at the 11th Annual Governors Awards with the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award. The 63-year-old actress will be recognized for her work as the founder of the Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media.

Davis says she wondered if she was in trouble during the summer when she got a message that the president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences needed to speak to her urgently.

The "Thelma & Louise" actress founded the non-profit in 2004 with the goal of improving gender equity in television and films made for kids after she realized the effect that "Thelma & Louise" had on people.

Her organization found that gender parity was been achieved in kids' television programming by 2012.

WOODY GUTHRIE CENTER TO HONOR RAPPER CHUCK D??

TULSA, Okla. (AP) — Rapper Chuck D is this year's winner of the Woody Guthrie Prize, an award that recognizes artists who speak out for the less fortunate.

Chuck D was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2013 as part of the groundbreaking hip-hop group Public Enemy. He'll be honoured at a ceremony in Tulsa on Nov. 16.

Woody Guthrie Center Director Deana McCloud noted that Guthrie was "a fighter for the people." She says Chuck's D's work has aligned with that message to "choose a side, fight the power, and work for a better world."

Chuck D is the sixth recipient of the prize named for the Oklahoma native.

Past recipients of the award include John Mellencamp, Norman Lear, Kris Kristofferson, Mavis Staples and Pete Seeger.

2 GUILTY IN $1B FRAUD AS FEDS AUCTION BURT REYNOLDS TRANS AM

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — Two employees of a San Francisco Bay Area solar energy company have pleaded guilty to participating in what federal prosecutors say was a massive scheme that defrauded investors of $1 billion.

Investigators say the owners, who have not been charged, accumulated nearly 150 often exotic vehicles, including a 1978 Pontiac Trans Am once owned by Burt Reynolds.

The replica of the car driven by the late actor in "Smokey and the Bandit" and the other vehicles are to be auctioned off on Saturday. Online bidding already pushed their value past $5 million.

It's the largest single-owner car collection ever auctioned by U.S. Marshals.

Pleading guilty Tuesday were 53-year-old certified public accountant Ronald Roach and 44-year-old general contractor Joseph Bayliss.

They admitted providing false reports misleading investors of DC Solar.

DOLLY PARTON, CHRIS STAPLETON, PINK TO PERFORM AT CMA AWARDS

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Dolly Parton will perform a new song "Faith" in a gospel medley, Reba McEntire will revisit her hit "Fancy" and Chris Stapleton will perform a duet with Pink at this year's Country Music Association Awards.

CMA announced Wednesday the first round of performers for the Nov. 13 awards show in Nashville, Tennessee. Parton will also sing "God Only Knows" with Christian duo for KING & COUNTRY and "There Was Jesus" with Zach Williams.

Carrie Underwood, who is nominated for entertainer of the year and will host the show with McEntire and Parton, will perform "Drinking Alone," while Miranda Lambert will sing her new single, "It All Comes Out in the Wash."

Additional performers include Eric Church, Luke Combs, Keith Urban and the show's top nominee, Maren Morris.

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089155-r-492:00-(Carrie Underwood, performing "Drinking Alone")-"(music fades)"-Dolly Parton, Chris Stapleton, Pink to perform at CMA Awards (23 Oct 2019)

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HOLLYWOOD SAID 'NO' TO DEON TAYLOR, SO HE MADE HIS OWN PATH

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Director Deon Taylor is used to hearing the word "no" when it comes to his movies. But his refusal to be dissuaded is a large part of the reason the self-taught filmmaker from Gary, Indiana was able to become a director in the first place.

And after making successful movies independently for 15 years, Hollywood is starting to take notice. This year Taylor has two major films in theatres. "The Intruder" became a solid hit in May, and his police thriller "Black and Blue" opens nationwide Thursday.

"Black and Blue" star Naomie Harris calls Taylor a "maverick."

Harris plays a police officer who witnesses corruption in her own ranks and finds herself on the run from her peers.

SOMEONE TO LOVE: RISING SCOTTISH SINGER LEWIS CAPALDI

NEW YORK (AP) — Though most of Lewis Capaldi's debut album is about his ex-girlfriend, his breakthrough song was written about another important woman in his life: his grandmother.

The single "Someone You Loved," which is currently No. 3 on Billboard's all-genre Hot 100 chart and No. 1 on Top 40 radio, was inspired by his grandmother's death and is helping the rising Scottish singer find international success.

The single is from his debut album, "Divinely Uninspired to a Hellish Extent," which was released in May.

Capaldi says the song is finding success because his fans have been able to relate to the song in different ways, whether it's the death of a family member or the demise of a romantic relationship.

TECHNOLOGY IS REMAKING HOW WE SEE THE ANCIENT ART OF Theatre

NEW YORK (AP) — These days you can watch a Broadway musical from a subway train seat. You can get your stage fix at your local movie theatre or hear a play while jogging.

Theater just isn't what it used to be.

Media companies armed with the latest in technology are evolving it past the quaint notion of patrons filing into a venue and sitting quietly in the dark.

Kicking yourself that you never saw the play "Fleabag"? Relaxe. Cinema distributor Fathom Events has you covered.

Can't wait for the live-action "Cats" movie? Then watch a stage version while cuddling your own cat on the couch, thanks to digital theatre streaming network BroadwayHD. Or put on your headphones and listen to the play "True West" via Audible.

HANNI LÉVY, WHO SURVIVED HOLOCAUST IN BERLIN HIDEOUT, DIES

BERLIN (AP) — Hanni Lévy, who survived the Holocaust hiding out in Berlin, has died. She was 95.

Claus Raefle, a German movie director who knew Lévy, said Wednesday that Lévy's family informed him she had died overnight at her home in Paris.

Raefle's 2017 film "The Invisibles" tells the story of four Jews, including Lévy, trying to avoid deportation in the capital of Nazi Germany.

Born Hanni Weißenberg in 1924, Lévy later recounted how she colored her hair blond and assumed the name Hannelore Winkler to evade suspicion. With the Nazis searching for her, Lévy managed to find shelter with non-Jewish Berliners who Israel honoured after the war as Righteous Among the Nations.

About 1,700 Jews survived the Holocaust in Berlin.

News from © The Associated Press, 2019