Year: 2024

Apple renews ‘Loot’ for season three

Apple Inc July 17, 2024 0 1

Apple TV+ today announced that “Loot” has been renewed for season three. The comedy series is led by five-time Emmy Award-winning star and executive producer Maya Rudolph, alongside an all-star comedy ensemble cast that includes Michaela Jaé Rodriguez, Nat Faxon, Ron Funches and Joel Kim Booster.

The season two finale saw Molly Wells (Rudolph) and her trusted and unhinged assistant Nicholas (Kim Booster) board Molly’s private jet following her awkward exchange with her will-they, won’t-they colleague Arthur (Faxon). Where will the PJ land? Luckily, season three will continue to follow the antics of the beloved group of misfits at The Wells Foundation.

“We are thrilled to come back for a third season,” said Maya Rudolph and Danielle Renfrew Behrens of Banana Split Projects in a statement. “We’re extremely fortunate to spend more time with our talented cast and crew. Making this show with Apple TV+ has been a joy, and we can’t wait to reunite with our ‘Loot’ family.”

“With each season, ‘Loot’ continues to deliver joy, laughs and endearing characters for audiences around the world,” said Matt Cherniss, head of programming for Apple TV+, in a statement. “We are excited to partner with Maya Rudolph, and the entire cast and creative team behind ‘Loot,’ to create even more heartfelt moments with an ensemble of fan-favorite characters in season three.”

The complete first and second seasons of “Loot” are now streaming globally on Apple TV+. “Loot” season two kicks off a year after Molly Wells settles her very public divorce from tech billionaire John Novak (Adam Scott), and we find her thriving in her role as the head of her philanthropic organization, the Wells Foundation. Focused mainly on her charity work, Molly has sworn off any new relationships with men and embarks on a wellness journey. Fabulously single but not particularly independent, Molly keeps her trusty assistant, Nicholas by her side. He diligently caters to her every whim … and occasionally feeds her a kale smoothie spiked with gin.

Sofia Salinas (Rodriguez), the no-nonsense executive director of the Wells Foundation, continues to run things with compassionate efficiency, but her all-business ethos is thrown for a loop when she meets Molly’s charismatic architect friend Isaac (O-T Fagbenle). The bromance between Howard (Funches) and Nicholas also continues to flourish as they support each other in their endeavors both inside and outside the workplace. Meanwhile, Arthur has moved past his feelings for Molly and has adopted a new devil-may-care attitude on life, a change encapsulated by a very lame leather bracelet. The Wells Foundation team, including Rhonda (Meagen Fay) and Ainsley (Stephanie Styles), must pull together as co-workers and friends as Molly strives to publicly live up to her promise of giving away all of her vast fortune. Guest stars include Benjamin Bratt, Ana Gasteyer and Fagbenle, among others.

“Loot” is created, written and executive produced by Alan Yang and Matt Hubbard. Rudolph also serves as executive producer for Banana Split Projects, along with her producing partner Renfrew Behrens, Dave Becky of 3 Arts and Natasha Lyonne. “Loot” is produced for Apple by Universal Television, a division of Universal Studio Group.

Apple TV+ offers premium, compelling drama and comedy series, feature films, groundbreaking documentaries, and kids and family entertainment, and is available to watch across all of a user’s favorite screens. After its launch on November 1, 2019, Apple TV+ became the first all-original streaming service to launch around the world, and has premiered more original hits and received more award recognitions faster than any other streaming service in its debut. To date, Apple Original films, documentaries and series have earned 499 wins and 2,190 award nominations and counting, including multi-Emmy Award-winning comedy “Ted Lasso” and historic Oscar Best Picture winner “CODA.”

Apple TV+ is available on the Apple TV app in over 100 countries and regions, on over 1 billion screens, including iPhone, iPad, Apple TV, Apple Vision Pro, Mac, popular smart TVs from Samsung, LG, Sony, VIZIO, TCL and others, Roku and Amazon Fire TV devices, Chromecast with Google TV, PlayStation and Xbox gaming consoles, and at tv.apple.com, for $9.99 per month with a seven-day trial. For a limited time, customers who purchase and activate a new iPhone, iPad, Apple TV, Mac or iPod touch can enjoy three months of Apple TV+ for free.

FBI uses Cellebrite technology to access would-be Trump assassin’s phone

CompuScoop Staff July 17, 2024 0 2

New, faster phone-cracking technology from Cellebrite was used to access the phone – unconfirmed reports say it was an iPhone – of the would-be assassin of former President Trump at a rally in Butler, PA on Saturday that killed one person and critically injured two other attendees, The Washington Post reports citing “people familiar with the investigation.”

Officials said Monday they were able to access a cell phone belonging to Thomas Matthew Crooks, of Bethel Park, Pa., but they did not describe the technology behind that effort. Investigators are also exploring the possibility the gunman may have used two phones, after agents recovered a cellphone in Crooks’s house with a dead battery, according to the people familiar with the matter, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe details of an ongoing investigation.

After the shooting, investigators approached Crooks’s body and found he was carrying a cellphone. That device was first sent to the Pittsburgh FBI office, which did not have the technology to open it quickly, according to the people familiar with the investigation.

Officials sent the phone to the FBI’s laboratory in Quantico, Va., on Sunday, these people said.

At Quantico, FBI agents used technology from Cellebrite, a company well known among law enforcement companies for helping them access data on phones seized or recovered in criminal investigations, to get into the phone quickly, the people said.

The phone was a relatively new model, which can be harder for law enforcement to access than old phones because of newer software, according to technology experts. In many federal investigations, it can take hours, weeks or months to open a suspect’s phone.

In the Crooks case, which was an urgent priority for both the FBI and Cellebrite, the contractor’s technology was able to open it in less than 40 minutes, the people said.

Cracking the phone did not crack the case, the people said. It offered some leads to pursue, but did not hold any immediate evidence of motive or what agents call “derogatory information” — clues to criminal plans or associates.

Via: The Washington Post

NCIS: Tony & Ziva: Paramount+ Reveals Full Spin-Off Cast as Filming Begins

Dan Uff July 16, 2024 0 1

NCIS: Tony & Ziva has its cast, including the young actor who will play the pair’s soon-to-be teenage daughter. Isla Gie, Amita Suman, Maximilian Osinski, Nassima Benchicou, Julian Ovenden, Terence Maynard, Lara Rossi, and James D’Arcy have joined Cote de Pablo and Michael Weatherly as series regulars for the NCIS spin-off series, which has just started filming in Budapest. Ten episodes are planned for the first season.

Below is the official press release:

Paramount+ today announced the cast of series regulars set to join Cote de Pablo and Michael Weatherly in the upcoming Paramount+ original series NCIS: TONY & ZIVA. Produced by CBS Studios, the newest installment of the world’s #1 television franchise has officially begun production in Budapest. NCIS: TONY & ZIVA stars de Pablo and Weatherly, reprising their fan favorite roles of Ziva David and Tony DiNozzo, and reunites them on screen for the first time in 10 years.

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="1536"] Via: CBS/Paramount+[/caption]

In addition to de Pablo and Weatherly starring in the titular roles, the new series regulars joining NCIS: TONY & ZIVA and their roles are as follows:

Isla Gie (Foundation) as TALI: Tony and Ziva’s precocious 12-year-old daughter who is sick of being treated like a child. She’s more intuitive and vigilant than the adults around her give her credit for and she’s ready to prove this to them.

Amita Suman (Shadow and Bone) as CLAUDETTE: The Chief Technical Officer at Tony’s private security company and the only reason the place runs as smoothly as it does. There’s no problem Claudette can’t solve or code she can’t crack.

Maximilian Osinski (Ted Lasso) as BORIS: A Russian ex-pat and a brilliant computer hacker, one of the best and most elusive in the world. Boris lives outside the law and polite society and enjoys the anonymity and freedom that affords.

Nassima Benchicou (Emily in Paris) as MARTINE: A former French intelligence agent with the Directorate-General for External Security (DGSE). She is elegant and cunning, playing both sides of any conflict masterfully to protect her own self-interest.

Julian Ovenden (Bridgerton) as JONAH: A former computer programmer for the NSA and now the Secretary General of Interpol. Charming, decisive and confident, Jonah sees the ways in which the world is broken and knows he can fix it.

Terence Maynard (Coronation Street) as DR. LANG: A deeply experienced therapist, gentle and probing, Dr. Lang treats patients with severe traumas and helps them find comfort and agency.

Lara Rossi (The Watch) as SOPHIE: A highly skilled professional with a background in the Special Air Service (SAS), Sophie brings a unique blend of maternal warmth and hyper-vigilance to her role as a caretaker for Tali.

James D’Arcy (Agent Carter) as HENRY: A high-ranking official at Interpol, Henry has spent his career in law enforcement chasing international criminals. Career-focused with no wife or family of his own, Henry has always been happily married to his job.

NCIS: TONY & ZIVA picks up after Ziva’s supposed death when Tony left the NCIS team to go raise their daughter. Years later, Ziva was discovered alive, leading her to complete one final mission with NCIS before she was reunited with Tony and their daughter in Paris. Since then—and where we find them in NCIS: TONY & ZIVA—Tony and Ziva have been raising their daughter, Tali, together. When Tony’s security company is attacked, they must go on the run across Europe, try to figure out who is after them and maybe even learn to trust each other again so they can finally have their unconventional happily ever after.

NCIS is the world’s most successful television franchise with more than 300 million viewers around the world across all platforms, including broadcast, cable, streaming and syndication (according to Nielsen and international Television Audience Measurement companies in key territories). Since the launch of Paramount+, NCIS has consistently ranked among the top-five series on the service, in terms of hours consumed. In spring 2024, NCIS celebrated its 1,000th episode across the franchise.

NCIS: TONY & ZIVA is produced by CBS Studios and executive produced by John McNamara, Michael Weatherly, Cote de Pablo, Laurie Lieser, Christina Strain, Shelley Meals and Mairzee Almas. The series is distributed by Paramount Global Content Distribution.

Report: Disney+ Hacked and Private Data Leaked online

CompuScoop Staff July 16, 2024 0 0

Website Cord Cutters News is reporting that a report on Disney+ being hacked by a group called Nullbulge that states that the group has hacked the streaming service and leaked 1.2 terabytes of information from Disney’s internal communications run through Slack.

According to the data, they accessed Disney’s company chat system, which includes messages from employees at ESPN, Hulu, and Disney+.

The group of hackers said they are upset with how Disney handled its negotiations with artists last year, how it uses AI, and its customers. This is according to a statement the group sent to The Wall Street Journal.

According to The Wall Street Journal, the data includes conversations from Disney employees about corporate website maintenance, software development, assessments of potential new employees, and even personal data like photos of employee’ dogs.

The group also recently posted information about Disneyland Paris, which included revenue data.

Via: Cord Cutters News