90.1FM WABE (NPR), “Closer Look” — During a conversation with “Closer Look” host Rose Scott, Maddow spoke candidly about the state of democracy and her research for the book. Rachel Maddow is expected to stop in Atlanta for her book tour on Friday, Oct. 20, at the Fox Theatre.

In her new book, “Prequel: An American Fight Against Fascism,” Maddow explores the fight to preserve American democracy in the World War II era, when German agents, Nazi supporters, theocratic leaders, and others plotted to steer the United States toward an alliance with the Nazis and overthrow President Franklin D. Roosevelt.

She also explained why she doesn’t think a specific person, leader or personality can put democracy at risk.

“The risk is the movement and fascist and authoritarian ideation—and that afflicts a lot of people,” said Maddow. “And it is driven by dynamics, and it is driven by structural things—and you need to think about it as a mass of people who want that. Not just a person who is mesmerizing a population and driving them toward something that they don’t want.”  

ATLANTA JOURNAL-CONSTITUTION — The lineup of stalls and a full-service restaurant set to open later this year in the Politan Row at Ashford Lane food hall in Dunwoody will offer foods from around the world.

The food hall, located at 4500 Olde Perimeter Way in the Ashford Lane retail development, comes from Politan Group, the company behind the Politan Row at Colony Square food hall in Midtown and a forthcoming food hall at Forum Peachtree Corners.

Newly announced food vendors for the 17,000-square-foot Politan Row at Ashford Lane, which is slated to debut in December, include … [MORE]

WANF CBS46 — ATLANTA, Ga. (Atlanta News First) - Games Week Georgia was just announced. There are competitions, conferences and summits planned for people interested in the gaming industry or playing games.

Games Week Georgia will include:

• Plaza Theater, set for Dec. 11, there will be a special screening (film to be announced) and gaming panel with leadership from the film, music and gaming industry in Georgia

• GirlGamer Atlanta, set for Dec.13, will feature women’s teams competing in Rocket League with a chance to represent the USA at the international finals

• Esports Summit, set for Dec. 14, is returning for a full day’s programming, punctuating the thriving esports industry in Georgia and beyond

• VIP Creative Industry Mixer event, set for Dec 14, will host the who’s who of film, music, and gaming around the theme of gaming, esports and digital entertainment.

• SIEGE conference, which will be from Dec. 14-17, is the largest professional game development conference in the south and will take place as part of DreamHack Atlanta.

• DreamHack Atlanta, which will be from Dec. 15-17, is the week that will culminate with the return of the global gaming lifestyle festival, offering the ultimate weekend of everything gaming and esports under one roof

According to the Georgia Department of Economic Development, digital entertainment is a $550 million industry in the state and is responsible for more than 12,000 jobs. [READ MORE]

ESPORTS INSIDER — Games Week Georgia, a week-long event celebrating Georgia’s esports and gaming industries, has unveiled a slate of events taking place in the state from December 11th to 17th. The events include DreamHack Atlanta and the GirlGamer Esports Festival in addition to the Esports Summit and SIEGE conference.

Kicking off Games Week Georgia, on December 11th the Plaza Theater will have a special screening of a yet-to-be-announced film as well as host a gaming panel.

Taking place on December 13th, GirlGamer Atlanta will feature women’s teams competing in Rocket League for a chance to represent the United States at the international finals. Atlanta is one of five locations that form part of the GirlGamer Esports Festival World Circuit.

On December 14th, the Esports Summit features a range of presentations from industry leaders in addition to workshops operated by companies within the esports and scholastic esports sectors.

From December 15th to 17th, DreamHack returns to Atlanta for the first time since November 2022. The 2023 event sees a $100,000 (~£82,049) Fortnite tournament taking place alongside the Call of Duty Mobile World Championship and the ESL Challenger CS:GO competition.

Over the years, the United States has continued to develop itself as an esports destination through new esports venues, hosting major events and its sizeable collegiate ecosystem.

Within the US, the state of Georgia in particular has become a popular location for gaming and esports events. Most recently, in June 202 tournament organiser BLAST and game developer Ubisoft announced the second Rainbow Six Major will take place in Atlanta. [READ MORE]

ATLANTA JOURNAL-CONSTITUTION — Almost 30 years ago, former Atlanta Journal-Constitution journalist Douglas Blackmon published an op-ed in the Sunday edition on May 31, 1992, with the headline “The death of a dream.”

The article found Blackmon revisiting his hometown of Leland, Mississippi, on the 10th anniversary of his graduating class (although he moved away before he could graduate with them). Blackmon expected to return to his hometown 10 years later to write an article about how integration was going.

“Of course,” Blackmon said, “[I] discovered that it was the opposite, that integration had already begun to start falling apart.”

After the Supreme Court ruled in Brown v. Board of Education that racial segregation in public schools was unconstitutional in 1954, most southern schools made no effort to integrate. It wasn’t until 1969, when the Supreme Court ordered southern schools to desegregate immediately, that schools truly began integrating. When Blackmon entered first grade, he would be part of Leland’s first class of Black and white students to attend school together for all 12 years.

After the Supreme Court ruled in Brown v. Board of Education that racial segregation in public schools was unconstitutional in 1954, most southern schools made no effort to integrate. It wasn’t until 1969, when the Supreme Court ordered southern schools to desegregate immediately, that schools truly began integrating. When Blackmon entered first grade, he would be part of Leland’s first class of Black and white students to attend school together for all 12 years. [MORE]

ATLANTA MAGAZINE — In the fall of 1970, Douglas A. Blackmon’s first grade class was the first in Leland, Mississippi, to have both Black and white students. For a time, it looked like a civil rights success, but the documentary illustrates the many ways that new forms of segregation in public schools were created.

Atlanta journalist and Douglas A. Blackmon has a distinguished career working at the Wall Street Journal and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. In 2009, he won a Pulitzer Prize for his book Slavery by Another Name: The Re-Enslavement of Black Americans from the Civil War to World War II. Now, the Georgia State University professor is tackling a story very close to home as writer and producer of a new documentary, The Harvest.

Debuting September 12 on PBS’s American Experience, The Harvest explores the story of first integrated public school class in Leland, Mississippi, of which Blackmon was a part of. The film is produced by prolific Oscar-nominated filmmaker and producer Sam Pollard (Citizen Ashe, Black Art: In the Absence of Light), who also worked on the documentary adaptation of Slavery by Another Name.

ARTSATL — Two world premieres, the inauguration of a White Box Theatre and the debut of three new company members will highlight Terminus Modern Ballet Theatre’s recently announced fall season.

The contemporary ensemble will premiere new works by Atlanta Ballet dancer-choreographer Darian Kane and Terminus’ own Rachel Van Buskirk when it kicks off the season over two weekends, September 23 and 24 and September 30 and October 1. These will be the company’s first performances in the White Box Theatre it has developed at the Tula Art Center in Buckhead. Also on that program will be a new work-in-progress by dancer-choreographer Shane Urton.

Urton graduated in 2009 from the University of North Carolina School of the Arts and began his professional career with the Joffrey Ballet in Chicago. In 2014, he left the United States to dance with the Royal New Zealand Ballet, then the Den Norske Opera & Ballett in Oslo before joining the Royal Ballet of Flanders. [MORE}

ATLANTA MAGAZINE — After three years of talk, development, and construction, Dunwoody’s first food hall, the Hall at Ashford Lane, opened in late May. Then, just over a month later, the Hall abruptly closed in a bizarre story that involved several employees accusing the owner of failing to pay owed wages, among other accusations. Will Donaldson, CEO of food hall operator Politan Row had been following the Hall’s progress as a competitor and now, the 17,000-square-foot space will not stay empty for long. Slated to reopen in October as Politan Row, the Ashford Lane location (4500 Olde Perimeter Way) will feature some of the same vendors as the Colony Square location, as well as some new options.

“The mission of our company is to support these entrepreneurs,” Donaldsons says. “Food halls are fertile testing ground for a chef.

This is the first time Politan Row is moving into an existing food hall space rather than designing from scratch. As such, Donaldson says the company is working with most of the infrastructure put in place by the Hall but adding signage and new decor. They’re removing the center walls in the Hall to create clean sight lines for diners to stalls. They’ll build a banquette around the center, similar to that at Colony Square, repaint the ceiling (which is currently painted black), add rugs and sconce lighting, and remove the ornate chandeliers. An enclosed patio will be created near the garage-style doors to create an area for Bar Politan, which will sell drinks to the whole food hall. [MORE]

ATLANTA JOURNAL-CONSTITUTION — Politan Group, the business behind the Politan Row at Colony Square food hall in Midtown, is set to expand its metro Atlanta footprint with a new food hall in Dunwoody.

Politan Row at Ashford Lane is set to open this fall at 4500 Olde Perimeter Way in the Ashford Lane retail development. The project will take over the space vacated by the Hall at Ashford Lane, which closed in July after less than two months, with several former employees accusing the owners of failing to pay them, among other charges.

The new hall will feature nine food stalls, including several tenants that have stalls at Politan Row at Colony Square such as taco spot Pretty Little Tacos, hibachi and noodles concept Gekko and Indian fusion eatery Tandoori Pizza & Wings.

Several seasoned Atlanta restaurateurs will make their food hall debuts at the counter-service Politan Row at Ashford Lane, including Niki Pattharakositkul with 26 Thai, which has several metro Atlanta locations including one less than a mile away in Perimeter Mall; Gregory Vivier, who will open a second location of his Roswell restaurant Smokehouse Q; and Charlie Sunyapong and Paul Thai, who own Stäge Kitchen & Bar and Peche in Peachtree Corners and will open Mediterranean concept Sheesh.

Politan Group CEO Will Donaldson said that they targeted local vendors who are seeking to expand and grow their brands.

WANF CBS46 (Atlanta News First) — Georgia’s film industry has grown since the Georgia film tax credit was put in place in 2008. The $4 billion industry employs more than 46,000 people in Georgia.

Moonshine Post-Production puts the final touches on pictures and videos. Owner Drew Sawyer said Georgia’s film tax credit changed the industry forever, attracting bigger productions to support thousands of people in the film industry who wanted to live and work in Georgia.

“I’m just some kid running the student news program up in northwest Georgia. That turned a hobby into, you know, a trade and then provided opportunities for others. we have the largest equipped filmmaking army in the United States. It’s astounding,” said Sawyer.

While the strike is taking away most of his work, Sawyer is channeling his energy to make sure that the tax credit doesn’t change. He made this video “Made WITH Georgia: The Rise of Georgia Post Production,” which features some of the people he works with, including graphic designers, colorists, and composers.

The film tax credit has grown from $669.4 million in 2016 to $961.0 million in 2019, which is a 44% increase.

ATLANTA MAGAZINE — Another immersive experience for children has launched—this one in Dunwoody. Located in the Ashford Lane development on Olde Perimeter Way (near the Perimeter Target), Camp is a new store, play space, and interactive show with eight locations across the country. The “Canteen” or lobby area is free to enter; the themed “behind the Magic Door” area requires paid admission. Camp locations feature different themes. In Dunwoody, Camp partnered with Disney for The Little Mermaid experience. Elsewhere, Camp boasts Encanto, Paw Patrol, and Nike-branded experiences, among others. Themes rotate every four to six months.

“Camp is about play and happy, teachable moments,” says Kirk Larsen, Camp’s chief creative officer. “We’re a destination for families. It’s a place to go and have fun.” [MORE]

SAPORTA REPORT — Over the years, Georgia has increasingly become a hotspot within the world of film and T.V. Wanting to further analyze the impact of the local entertainment industry, Georgia State University’s Creative Media Industries Institute (CMII) released “Building Georgia’s Digital Entertainment Future.”

The report offers a comprehensive look at Georgia’s media — including film and television production, digital media, gaming, music, and emerging technologies — through a lens of workplace opportunities, rural and suburban development and impact on the local economy. 

The study explores how Georgia’s investment in the film industry has helped shape Georgia’s current and future success stories. The information was pulled from various sources, including the Georgia Screen Entertainment Coalition, the Georgia Production Partnership, the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the Motion Picture Association and others.  [MORE]