Author: Earl Hopkins

As the 34th Philadelphia Film Festival wraps up on Sunday, organizers have a parting gift.

On Friday, the Philadelphia Film Society, which is the parent organization for the festival, announced that Emmy-winning actor and West Philly’s very own Colman Domingo is the recipient of the society’s 2025 Lumière Award.

The award honors Domingo’s “extraordinary contributions” as an actor, writer, and director, as well as his deep ties to Philadelphia, according to a statement.

“[Domingo’s] impressive ability to channel raw emotion, compassion, conviction, intensity, humor, and charisma into each of his roles is truly remarkable,” Andrew Greenblatt, CEO of the Philadelphia Film Society, said in the statement. “I couldn’t be more excited to honor Colman Domingo with our 2025 Lumière Award.”

Domingo grew up in the city with his stepfather, Clarence Bowles, who sanded hardwood floors, and his mother, Edith Bowles, who worked in a bank. He attended Temple University, where he studied journalism before dropping out at 21 to make headlines of his own as a stage actor.

In the years since, he has emerged as a transformative talent on the Broadway stage and in Hollywood. He starred as Billy Flynn in the Broadway revival of Chicago in 2010 and was nominated the following year for a Tony for his work on the musical The Scottsboro Boys.

His starring roles in films such as the 2023 biopic Rustin and the 2024 drama Sing Sing earned him consecutive Academy Award best actor nominations.

Domingo joins former Lumière Award honorees M. Night Shyamalan, Bruce Willis, Adam McKay, and Lee Daniels, who were all recognized for their cinematic achievements and meaningful contribution to the City of Brotherly Love.

Along with Domingo’s honor, PFS presented its Audrey Evans Impact Award for Social Change to boxer Christy Salters and the film Christy.

The award is named after Evans, a pioneering pediatric oncologist and Ronald McDonald House cofounder, who worked for decades at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.

Philadelphia entrepreneur Maya Nazareth, the founder of Alchemize Fightwear, delivered her pitch to celebrity investors on ABC’s Shark Tank on Wednesday.

In hopes of striking a deal for her women’s combat sports apparel company, the Forbes 30 Under 30 honoree appeared on episode four of the hit show’s 17th season.

When she was 17, Nazareth said, she transformed her passion for jiujitsu into a woman-centered, high-performance fightwear brand from the ground up. Today, Alchemize makes a range of apparel for women training in martial arts, boxing, wrestling, and jiujitsu.

“I think it’s so much bigger than combat sports,” Nazareth said of her company’s appeal. “We’re for the fighter in every woman.”

After noticing a lack of womenswear options in combat training, which often “makes a lot of women quit,” Nazareth said she started the business as a University of Delaware college student in 2020.

The apparel brand founder presented in front of regular “sharks” Daymond John, Lori Greiner, Kevin O’Leary, and Kendra Scott, and guest investor Alexis Ohanian.

Ohanian, the cofounder of Reddit and husband of tennis legend Serena Williams, expressed early interest in Nazareth’s company. He cited data explaining why a lack of properly-fitting sports bras turns school-age girls away from competing in athletics.

Nazareth initially sought a $250,000 investment in exchange for a 5% stake in Alchemize. The sharks were hesitant about the price tag and competition from apparel giants like Nike and other major retailers.

“You’re competing against folks that have built brands that people will tattoo on their bodies,” Ohanian said. “The brand you’re going to have to build is going to have to be something very formidable and compelling.”

In response, Nazareth pointed to her brand’s strong social media engagement and $1.8 million in lifetime sales at the time of recording. In 2024 alone, Nazareth said the company had nearly $500,000 in sales.

After a series of counter offers, Ohanian, Greiner, and Scott teamed up for a $300,000 offer in exchange for a 15% stake in the business, split equally among the three investors.

Nazareth attempted to negotiate the equity stake down to 12%, but ultimately accepted the three sharks’ offer. “We’re about to build a world-class community in movement for the fighter in every woman,” Nazareth said on-screen.

In an interview with CNBC Make It, Nazareth declined to confirm whether the deal was finalized off-screen. But she said her plans are to use the capital to scale up marketing and “continue to amplify the brand.”

During the episode, Nazareth was joined by the founders of an at-home sprout grower and a pet-first aviation service. Other competitors included Orka Bar founder Stephen Longo, of Belmar, N.J., who pitched his high-protein dessert. The Jersey Shore business owner secured a $100,000 investment for a 25% stake in the brand.

To watch the episode, visit abc.com or stream “Shark Tank” on Hulu.

After selling out football stadiums and baseball fields worldwide during the band’s last tour, Foo Fighters is coming back for another North American run.

The iconic Seattle-bred band announced it is embarking on a 12-city stadium tour with fellow rockers Queens of the Stone Age and will stop at Lincoln Financial Field on Aug. 13, 2026.

General tickets to the show will be available at 10 a.m. Oct. 31.

The band performed in the now-shuttered Trocadero Theatre in 1995, soon after its inception in 1994. Over the years, it has performed at the Electric Factory, First Union Center, the Wachovia Center, and the Wells Fargo Center in 2011.

Thursday’s announcement came with the release of a new single, “Asking for a Friend,” an intense and decidedly darker track than the band’s recent hit, “Today’s Song,” which debuted in July.

Foo Fighters founder and lead singer Dave Grohl said the song and the upcoming tour are inspired by the band’s recent surprise club shows, beginning with a performance at the Fremont Theater in San Luis Obispo, Calif., last month.

After turning back the clock and performing more than 30 years worth of songs, Grohl said the band was reminded “why we love and are forever devoted to doing this Foo Fighters thing.”

The band, led by Grohl, lost drummer Taylor Hawkins in 2022, while on tour in Colombia. John Freese, who had stepped in as drummer after Hawkins died, was dismissed from the band in 2025. The band will be touring with a new drummer, Ilan Rubin, who has played drums for Nine Inch Nails and Paramore.

A July 2022 scheduled stop at Lincoln Financial Field was canceled following Hawkins’ death.

The new tour includes stops in Toronto, Chicago, Cleveland, Detroit, Nashville, Las Vegas, Fargo, N.D., and Vancouver, B.C., among others. The band said that it will be announcing more shows.

Presale tickets will be available 10 a.m. Oct. 29. ticketmaster.com.