Los Angeles Times and EPIX Create Original Five-Part TV Series "Hollywood Sessions" to Premiere December 8th at 8pm ET/PT

The Los Angeles Times and EPIX have joined forces to co-produce “Hollywood Sessions,” a new series featuring 2014’s biggest film stars and potential award contenders in unguarded conversation with Times writers. The first of the series’ hour-long episodes will debut on premium entertainment network EPIX on December 8 at 8pm ET/PT, with encore presentations airing throughout awards season. “Hollywood Sessions” will be executive produced by Embassy Row’s Michael Davies, creator of Bravo’s late-night phenomenon “Watch What Happens: Live” with Andy Cohen, AMC’s “The Talking Dead,” and Oxygen’s critically-acclaimed “The Glee Project.”

“As Hollywood’s hometown news source, the industry’s most talented and fascinating personalities have a unique relationship with The Times, and our entertainment events have helped lead the way to more than 250 Oscar nominations. Now, through our longstanding relationship with EPIX, we’ve created a really special show that will let our audiences enjoy our access in a compelling new way,” said Francie Berns, Times vice president, entertainment advertising. “Imagine you’ve wandered into a room at a fabulous cocktail party and find Jennifer Aniston, Emily Blunt, Jessica Chastain, Gugu Mbatha-Raw and Shailene Woodley sitting on the couch swapping stories with an L.A. Times reporter. That’s ‘Hollywood Sessions.’”

The series will air on EPIX and be available on latimes.com/theenvelope, EPIX.com, EPIX On Demand and via the EPIX app. Highlights will also be made available on all.

“‘Hollywood Sessions’ represents the next evolution of our relationship with the Los Angeles Times and The Envelope,” said Mark Greenberg, President & CEO, EPIX. “Consumers’ TV habits continue to change dramatically and through our ‘TV Everywhere,’ multi-platform approach, audiences will be able to experience these exclusive and intimate conversations wherever and whenever they want.”

Times film writers Rebecca Keegan and Mark Olsen will host the series of intimate conversations with the year’s most buzzed about actors, actresses and directors. The provocative, entertaining, and boisterous discussions will focus on the stars’ and filmmakers’ careers in the limelight, industry trends and how their acclaimed projects came to life.

The series schedule is as follows:

“HOLLYWOOD SESSIONS: LEAD ACTRESSES” (12/8 at 8pm ET/PT)

• Jennifer Aniston (“Cake”)
• Emily Blunt (“Into the Woods”)
• Jessica Chastain (“The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby,” “Interstellar,” “A Most Violent Year”)
• Gugu Mbatha-Raw (“Belle”)
• Shailene Woodley (“The Fault in Our Stars”)

“HOLLYWOOD SESSIONS: SUPPORTING ACTRESSES” (12/15 at 8pm ET/PT)

• Patricia Arquette (“Boyhood”)
• Laura Dern (“Wild”)
• Emma Stone (“Birdman”)
• Tilda Swinton (“Snowpiercer”)

“HOLLYWOOD SESSIONS: SUPPORTING ACTORS” (12/22 at 8pm ET/PT)

• Josh Brolin (“Inherent Vice”)
• Edward Norton (“Birdman”)
• Mark Ruffalo (“Foxcatcher”)
• J.K. Simmons (“Whiplash”)
• Christoph Waltz (“Big Eyes”)

“HOLLYWOOD SESSIONS: LEAD ACTORS” (12/29 at 8pm ET/PT)

• Steve Carell (“Foxcatcher”)
• Benedict Cumberbatch (“The Imitation Game”)
• Robert Downey Jr. (“The Judge”)
• Michael Keaton (“Birdman”)
• Eddie Redmayne (“The Theory of Everything”)

“HOLLYWOOD SESSIONS: DIRECTORS” (1/5 at 8pm ET/PT)

• J.C. Chandor (“A Most Violent Year”)
• Richard Linklater (“Boyhood”)
• James Marsh (“The Theory of Everything”)
• Bennett Miller (“Foxcatcher”)
• Jean-Marc Vallée (“Wild”)

“Hollywood Sessions” is the latest addition to The Times’ expanding entertainment portfolio, which includes Company Town; The Envelope, Hollywood’s awards and industry insider, and its Envelope Screening Series, Envelope Independent Screening Series, Animation Roundtable and Envelope Emmy Roundtables; as well as Hero Complex and the Hero Complex Film Festival.

Embassy Row provided production services for EPIX and the Los Angeles Times as part of “Hollywood Sessions.” Michael Davies and Robert Lifton are the executive producers for Embassy Row, Don Weiner is the director and Emily Michele is the producer. Mark Greenberg, Kirk Iwanowski and Keary Hanan are the executive producers for EPIX. Envelope editor Elena Howe is the executive producer on behalf of the Los Angeles Times.

About Embassy Row

As part of Sony Pictures Television, Embassy Row is a television and digital production company dedicated to the development and acquisition of original non-scripted programming for broadcast, cable and digital platforms in the U.S. and abroad. The New York City-based company specializes in several genres including talk, games, competition, comedy, factual, food and sports. A pioneer in the areas of brand and social media integration, Embassy Row boasts a portfolio of popular and buzz-worthy series including “Watch What Happens Live” for Bravo, “Cutthroat Kitchen” for Food Network, “The Talking Dead” for AMC, as well as Jerry Seinfeld’s “Comedians In Cars Getting Coffee” for Crackle.

About EPIX

EPIX is a premium movie and original programming entertainment service delivering the latest movie releases, classic film franchises, original documentaries, comedy and music events on TV, on demand, online and on devices. Launched in October 2009, EPIX has pioneered the development and proliferation of “TV Everywhere.” It was the first premium network to provide multi-platform access to its content online at EPIX.com and was the first premium network to launch on XBOX 360, PlayStation®, iOS, Android tablets, Windows 8.1 and Roku® players. EPIX is available to authenticated subscribers on hundreds of devices including Apple® iPads® and iPhones® and is the only premium service providing all its programming on all platforms, delivering more movies than any other premium network, with thousands of titles available for streaming.

EPIX is a joint venture between Viacom Inc. (NASDAQ: VIA and VIA.B), its Paramount Pictures unit, Lionsgate (NYSE: LGF) and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc. (MGM). Through relationships with cable, satellite and telco partners, EPIX is available to over 50 million homes nationwide. For more information about EPIX, go to www.EPIX.com. Follow EPIX on Twitter @EpixHD (http://www.twitter.com/EpixHD) and on Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/EPIX), YouTube (http://youtube.com/EPIX), Instagram (http://instagram.com/EPIX), Google+ (http://plus.google.com/+EPIX), Pinterest (http://pinterest.com/EPIX) and Vine (https://vine.co/EPIX).

About the Los Angeles Times

The Pulitzer Prize-winning Los Angeles Times is the largest metropolitan daily newspaper in the country and has been covering Southern California for more than 132 years.

The Los Angeles Times Media Group (LATMG) businesses and affiliates also include The Envelope, Times Community News, and Hoy Los Angeles which, combined with the flagship Los Angeles Times, reach approximately 5 million or 36% of all adults in the Southern California marketplace. LATMG is part of Tribune Publishing Company (NYSE: TPUB), a diversified media and marketing solutions company that delivers innovative experiences for audiences and advertisers across all platforms. Additional information is available at http://latimes.com/aboutus. (TPUB-C)