By Cynthia Littleton The state of California has warned entertainment industry payroll providers and others that it is implementing policy changes that could have significant tax and retirement planning implications for those in Hollywood’s creative community who use loan out corporations to manage their business affairs. The California Employment Development Department has reportedly alerted payroll service Cast & Crew, IATSE and others of the plan to tighten rules for the use of loan out corporations. Many creatives in the industry use such a business structure to manage different forms of payments that flow in from disparate employers throughout the year. That’s increasingly common in the modern era when actors, writers, producers and directors often work o...

By Hunter Ingram In Netflix’s “Ripley,” characters repeatedly call attention to the colors of the world around them. The blue hue of a painting; the purple paisley pattern of a robe. These vibrant details that might be passing remarks in any other show ring like a bell in “Ripley” simply because the show is shot entirely in black and white. Speaking these colors out loud intentionally acknowledges what’s missing from the frame: both the visual vibrancy and the moral character of its main character, author Patricia Highsmith’s legendary conman Tom Ripley (Andrew Scott). Black and white serves this narrative purpose well as Tom’s desire for the life of rich playboy Dickie Greenleaf (Johnny Flynn) becomes more twisted and violent — and that’s exactly what writer/director Steven Zaillian...