Backchat with Bette Midler and Mean Girls Dolls for Who, April 18, 2016

I really enjoyed putting this week's Backchat together. First, there's an interview with Dalvinder Gill-Minhas, one of the featured Indian Australians looking for love in the SBS documentary Indian Wedding Race, then a look at the new line of Mean Girls dolls and a review of celebrities using Snapchat's puppy-face filter. Nicholas Fonseca and I had a great time compiling Bette Midler's best Twitter zingers, and I got to write all of the Gossip to Go boxes. 

Backchat with Geri Hakewill, Kate Ritchie for Who, March 14, 2016

My education in homegrown talent continues as I speak with actress Geraldine Hakewill about her role in the Seven series Wanted and actress/radio personality Kate Ritchie about her recent trip to Las Vegas for Nova FM.

SAG Awards for Who, Feb. 15, 2016

Great gowns, sure, but a great statement about diversity in entertainment — that summed up the Screen Actors Guild Awards in L.A. Glad to write about all of it for Who.

Making a Murderer: New Theories for Who, Feb. 8, 2016

Was there a serial killer involved? Other relatives of Steven Avery or Brendan Dassey? I dip my toe into the Netflix phenomenon Making a Murderer for this week's WHO.

Critics' Choice for Who, Feb. 1, 2016

Following a spread featuring an interview with Jennifer Aniston, this coverage of the Critics' Choice Awards leads with Aniston and Justin Theroux. I loved being able to write from Reagan Alexander's file.

Finding Your Roots: Maya Rudolph clip for People.com, Jan. 19, 2016

I enjoyed speaking with historian and scholar Henry Louis Gates Jr. to tease the latest episode of Finding Your Roots, enjoying its third season on PBS stations. I hope to include more of the interview in this post at a later date.

Title card courtesy PBS.

In "In Search of Freedom," Maya Rudolph, Shonda Rhimes and Keenan Ivory Wayans take fascinating journeys into their past and learn how to interpret their current identities. To read the story posted online, just scroll down the three images below.

To see a teaser for the episode, check out the video below, and to see the specific clip I wrote about above, click the link to the post on People here:

Golden Globes for Who, Jan. 25, 2016

Working on the tribute for David Bowie limited my contributions to this year's Golden Globes coverage, but here are the spreads I helped to write.

D23 Expo Coverage for People.com

I had the pleasure of the D23 Expo in Anaheim, California, for People and Who. Held the weekend of Aug. 14, 2015, the fan fest generated a lot of great posts for People.com. I reported two, the first of which garnered 4,500 shares. Check them out in the carousel below, then scroll down for more stories from the northern summer. 

Johnny Depp got his wish and met Mickey Mouse. Photo courtesy Disney.

Sometimes observation can make for a post. The story below the photo was based on a riff Chris Evans and Anthony Mackie had onstage for the Captain America: Civil War presentation.

Anthony Mackie, Chris Evans and Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige. Photo courtesy Disney.

The following item almost didn't post. There was debate if George Lucas's confession about a certain prequel character would be appropriate for People or more Entertainment Weekly territory. I'm glad they went with it! 

George Lucas received his Disney Legend honor from Walt Disney chairman and CEO Bob Iger. Photo courtesy of Disney.

No one works in a vacuum. I got to reunite with Scott Huver to tag-team on coverage. One of our pieces was on Ellen DeGeneres and Ty Burrell talking about Finding Dory. The other involved Burrell's comments on his Modern Family co-star Ariel Winter and her breast reduction surgery (she had just revealed that she had the procedure done). Read both in the carousel below. 

Ed O'Neill, Ty Burrell and Ellen DeGeneres speak about Finding Dory at D23. Photo courtesy ABC/Image Group LA.

I spoke with Dancing with the Stars professional dancer Val Chmerkovskiy. He was about to perform along with fellow DWTS pro Peta Murgatroyd (now engaged to his brother Max) but spoke about his desire to break into acting. He also spoke well of Rumer Willis, the partner with whom he won a Mirror Ball trophy.

Val Chmerkovskiy and Mickey Mouse. Photo from a DWTS blog.

I ended up attending numerous panels, covering the Legends carpet and reuniting with celebrities and publicists. I hope to amend this post with some interviews that didn't make it to People.com, namely with composer Danny Elfman. Thanks for reading!