*By Conor White*
"Mad Men" creator Matthew Weiner's new anthology series for Amazon, "The Romanoffs," is about far more than Russia's last royal family, according to one of its stars.
"As I said to Matthew when I was doing this, I have to bone up on the Romanoffs," actor Aaron Eckhart said in an interview on Cheddar.
"And he said, 'Well, not really, because it really has nothing to do with the Romanoffs.'"
The family consisted of Tsar Nicholas II, his wife, and five children. After Russia's February Revolution of 1917, Nicholas II abdicated the throne and was later executed with the rest of his house. Within the last 30 years, all the bodies have been discovered and identified through DNA testing. Despite that evidence, whispers remain that one of his children, most likely Anastasia, escaped the killings. (The tsar's youngest daughter inspired the popular animated film, "Anastasia," which was recently turned into a musical.)
The Amazon ($AMZN) series features a different cast in each of its eight episodes, which are all linked by some sort of connection to the famous family ー be it real or fabricated.
Eckhart said it's the relationships between the show's characters ー whether directly linked to the royals or not ー that makes the show special.
"The magical part of the show is that it has thematics, and it has through lines with the Romanoffs," the Golden Globe nominee said. "But it's all these different scenarios with different people all over the world."
The series is creator Weiner's return to television after his seven-season run with "Mad Men" ー the highly-acclaimed show garnered two Golden Globes for "Best Drama Series" and eight Primetime Emmy awards.
It was Eckhart's first time working with Weiner, and he said the experience was "educational, interesting," and "fascinating,"
"It's very surprising and striking and bold. It takes a real genius to figure this all out," Eckhart added.
In the age of binge-watching, Amazon has made the choice to release one episode per week after releasing the first two episodes simultaneously on Oct. 12.
Eckhart is a fan of the move and called it "more traditional." But he admitted he has binged his way through at least one classic series.
"I did binge-watch 'Friends'," he said.
"'Friends' is a very good show."
For full interview [click here](https://cheddar.com/videos/meet-the-romanoffs).
The Vancouver Film School announced on Cheddar Monday that it is launching a program for augmented reality and virtual reality, betting big that AR and VR will be the next disruptive force in entertainment. Christopher Ian Bennett, Executive Producer for the Vancouver Film School, said the 10-month diploma program launching in 2019 will make VFS "one of the first and only schools in the world that offers this for augmented reality and virtual reality design and development."
President Trump lauded his meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping at the G20 summit in Buenos Aires as "extraordinary" after the two sides agreed to a pause in tariff increases for 90 days. But Hagar Chemali, CEO of Greenwich Media Strategies, said investors shouldn't start the ticker tape parade just yet.
Uber is sniffing around a possible acquisition of either Lime or Bird, the leaders in the growing e-scooter rental market, according to a report in The Information. One of the reporters who broke that story told Cheddar on Monday that there is a "growing realization" among ride-hailing companies that bike and scooters will continue to be a significant part of the urban mobility landscape.
These are the headlines you Need 2 Know for Monday, Dec. 3, 2018.
The Angad Arts Hotel is a boutique hotel in the Arts District of St. Louis and features a slate of rooms colored to compliment guests' moods ー green for rejuvenation, yellow for happiness, red for passion, blue for tranquility.
From Wall Street to Silicon Valley, these are the top stories that moved markets and had investors, business leaders, and entrepreneurs talking this week on Cheddar.
Michael Cohen's latest revelations about President Trump's ties to Russia have left the U.S. leader isolated at the G20 summit and "looking like a petulant child" on the world stage, Rick Wilson, author of "Everything Trump Touches Dies," told Cheddar Friday.
John Paul DeJoria may be a billionaire now, but the self-made founder of John Paul Mitchell Systems and Patron Spirits will never forget the periods of homelessness from his past. Even after he's built an empire, DeJoria said he gives first and generates profit second ー a philosophy that is now influencing the launch of his new smartphone, ROKiT.
Volvo's headlights are fixed firmly on the future ー so firmly that it decided to bring a concept, not a car to the 2018 Los Angeles Auto Show. Volvo's Chief Digital Officer Atif Rafiq told Cheddar's Tamara Warren that it took the "extreme step of not having a car at a car show" to make a statement about Volvo's future in mobility ー even as the automaker regains its balance after abruptly canceling its public debut.
Call it the "sandwich generation" ー people, often women, in their 30s and early 40s juggling demanding careers and increasing demands of caring for aging parents. Those are some of the stories Emmy Award-winning journalist Laura Ling is hoping to highlight in her podcast "Everyday Bravery."
