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    Comedy duo The Sklar Brothers to host VES Awards

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    The Sklar Brothers
    LOS ANGELES --

    Actors-comedians Randy and Jason Sklar–The Sklar Brothers–will host the 23rd Annual Visual Effects Society (VES) Awards on February 11 at The Beverly Hilton hotel. This marks the duo’s first hosting engagement of the annual celebration that recognizes outstanding visual effects artistry and innovation from around the world.

    “No one understands the power of visual effects more than two identical humans. We are honored to have the opportunity to host the VES Awards. And if Randy isn’t funny, we’ll edit him out in post,” quipped one half of the VES Awards hosting team The Sklar Brothers.

    The Sklar Brothers are a post-modern take on a stand-up comedy duo. Randy and Jason Sklar can currently be seen in the fourth season of FX’s What We Do in The Shadows playing fictional Property Brothers “Bran and Toby Daltry.” The Sklars produced, wrote, and starred in The Nosebleeds, a UFC original series that released this summer on UFC’s Fight Pass. The series is a hilarious deep dive into UFC’s history featuring comedy sketches, field pieces, and in-studio character bits.

    The Sklars notably hosted and produced History Channel’s United Stats of America and created and starred in the ESPN cult hit series Cheap Seats, besides being guest hosts on Jeff Ross Presents Roast Battle. Their television credits include Glow, Bajillion Dollar Properties, Maron, Agent Carter, Playing House, Partners, Grey’s Anatomy, Curb Your Enthusiasm, It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, Entourage, CSI, Law & Order and Comedy Central Presents. They released their special, Hipster Ghosts on Starz. They also recently produced the documentary, Poop Talk. The Sklars have recurred on the TruTV Series Those Who Can’t and several episodes of AMC’s hit series Better Call Saul.

    Randy and Jason can also be seen in Wild Hogs and The Comebacks, while their internet shows Held Up, Layers and Back on Topps have received critical acclaim. They also recurred as panelists on ESPN’s SportsCenter and E!’s Chelsea Lately. Their podcast “View From the Cheap Seats” (formerly “Sklarbro Country”) was nominated for best comedy podcast in 2012 at Comedy Central’s comedy awards and their new podcast “Dumb People Town” is averaging 75k downloads per episode in its first month. They are currently developing the pilot for Dumb People Town, based on the podcast, with Will Arnett’s Electric Avenue, and Val Kilmer Ruined Our Lives with Bill Lawrence.

    As previously announced, awards will be presented in 25 categories for outstanding visual effects. Special honorees at the 23rd Annual VES Award include: Golden Globe nominee and Emmy Award-winning actor-producer Hiroyuki Sanada, receiving the VES Award for Creative Excellence; Academy Award-winning director and visual effects supervisor Takashi Yamazaki receiving the VES Visionary Award; and virtual reality/immersive technology pioneer Dr. Jacquelyn Ford Morie receiving the VES Georges Méliès Award.

    Tags:Jason SklarRandy SklarThe Sklar BrothersVES AwardsVisual Effects Society



    U.K. data protection watchdog investigating how TikTok uses children’s personal data

    Monday, March 3, 2025
    A visitor passes the TikTok exhibition stands at the Gamescom computer gaming fair in Cologne, Germany, Thursday, Aug. 25, 2022. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner, File)

    The U.K.'s data protection watchdog said Monday that it's investigating how TikTok uses the personal information of teenagers to deliver content recommendations to them when they use the social media platform.

    The Information Commissioner's Office said that there are growing concerns around how social media platforms were using data generated by children's online activity to power their recommendation algorithms, and the potential for young people to see inappropriate or harmful content as a result.

    The regulator said that it wanted to ensure the robustness of TikTok's safety procedures when it comes to using the personal information of teens ranging in age from 13 to 17.

    "It's what they're collecting, it's how they work," information commissioner John Edwards said. "I will expect to find that there will be many benign and positive uses of children's data in their recommender systems."

    "What I am concerned about is whether they are sufficiently robust to prevent children being exposed to harm, either from addictive practices on the device or the platform, or from content that they see, or from other unhealthy practices," he said.

    As part of the investigation, the regulator will also look into how online forum site Reddit and image-sharing site Imgur use children's personal data and how they estimate or verify a child's age.

    TikTok, which is operated by Chinese technology firm ByteDance, said in a statement that it was "deeply committed to ensuring a positive experience for young people on TikTok."

    "Our recommender systems are designed and operate under strict and comprehensive measures that protect the privacy and safety of teens, including industry-leading safety features and robust restrictions on the content... Read More

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