Latest news with #Phoenixes
National Geographic
18-07-2025
- National Geographic
The best summers of my life were spent at the Grand Canyon Lodge. Now it's gone.
I'm not usually one to get weepy over a hotel, let alone a patio and some rough-hewn wooden furniture. But when Arizona's famous Grand Canyon Lodge and a number of smaller adjacent structures burned down on the night of July 12 in the Dragon Bravo Fire, a blaze that to date has consumed 11,344 acres and remains entirely uncontained, it left a hole in more than just the conifer forest of the North Rim. My heart, my friends' hearts—there's a hole in each of these now. And there are similar holes in the hearts of thousands of folks across the globe who also loved, and still love, and will forever love, that rustic palace, that gobsmacking view, that superlative place. In 2024, close to five million visitors experienced the beauty and wonder of Grand Canyon National Park, but only ten percent of them ventured to the high, green, thrillingly remote North Rim. For those that did make the five-hour drive from Las Vegas, or the six-hour drive from Flagstaff, or the seven-hour drive from Salt Lake City, the Grand Canyon Lodge, which until this past weekend perched at an elevation of 8,000 feet near the tip of Bright Angel Point, was invariably the destination. Designed by architect Gilbert Stanley Underwood and built in 1928 with local ponderosa pine and Kaibab Limestone, it was destroyed in 1932 thanks to a runaway kitchen fire. Phoenixes rise from ashes, though, and in 1937 it opened again for business—the business of blowing minds. (Did you know the Grand Canyon is a Dark Sky Park?) The Dragon Bravo Fire burns on the North Rim of the Grand Canyon in Northern Arizona early Sunday morning July 13th, 2025. The fire was started by lighting and left to burn under managed conditions for fuels and resource benefits, but strong winds caused the fire to jump containment lines and burn out of control. Photograph by Stuart Palley Picture a sprawling mansion, solid, heavy, grounded, yet paradoxically hovering above the glowing abyss, the dizzying emptiness of geologic time. Picture old-growth logs framing gargantuan windows, splinters and chandeliers, earthiness and elegance in equal measure. Picture stepping out, stepping through, whispering a few celebratory expletives, shouting a G-rated version of the same, and taking a seat at sunset on the patio of your dreams, the patio of—what a crazy lucky blessing!—my reality. Mike, Ally, Zak, Zig, Jeff, Tara, Sophia, Zig, Carrie, Richard—my friends and I differed considerably from the tour-bus-and-zoom-lens crowd. US Forest Service raptor scientists, we resided in a barebones field station 40 washboard miles from the Lodge and bushwhacked, week after week and month after month, the whole vast Kaibab Plateau (both the National Forest and National Park) in pursuit of molted feathers, crying hawks, active nests, data for the boss' demography and habitat studies. Richard, a brilliant septuagenarian ornithologist sporting a handlebar mustache and chunky silver belt buckle, had been conducting research on the Kaibab for 17 years already when I joined the project in 2008. Over the next four summers, alongside my fellow bird nerds, I became intimate with the North Rim's secret vistas, its hidden backcountry delights. (A park ranger's guide to the Grand Canyon) Sunset from the lodge on the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. Brahma and Zoroaster temples bask in the warm light of the setting sun. In the distance, clouds cling to the distant rim of the canyon after a summer monsoon storm, 2015. Photograph by Adam Schallau The Grand Canyon Lodge on the North Rim of Grand canyon National Park, 2011. Photograph by Adam Schallau Honestly, we were snobs, eco-elites, wilderness cognoscenti accustomed to musty sleeping bags who scoffed at the idea of the Lodge's clean sheets. But even hardcore nature freaks need a little civilization—a cold beer and slice of pepperoni pizza—on occasion. If the North Rim was our backyard (it was), the Lodge was our clubhouse—a clubhouse that happened to be listed as a National Historic Landmark. Every third or fourth Friday evening, we would pile into the trucks and crash the sunset party, i.e. try to snag, then defend, a block of benches and rockers amidst the oohing and ahhing crowds. There's Zak, chatting about Coconino Sandstone and the Hermit Formation with a stylish French lady. There's Ally, dodging a Texas oilman's bulging belly as she seeks a fresh angle on Zoroaster Temple and Oza Butte. There's Richard and Zig, carrying a pie to split and a round of IPAs, their Adirondack chairs lost due to my negligence, my absence, my piano playing. (The least crowded trails at Grand Canyon National Park) Interior of the Lodge on the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. Photograph by Elliot Ross (Top) (Left) and Photograph by Elliot Ross (Bottom) (Right) Yes, piano playing. In a lecture hall behind our favorite patio (the Lodge boasted many), I found an underutilized, almost-in-tune upright. We had guitars and banjos at the field station, but no keys, so I always seized the opportunity to pause between drinks and improvise simple spacious ambient jams, music that matched (I hoped) the chasm's hollow moody mysterious depths. One epic Friday of bruised purple skies, rain and thunder, meteorological tympany, I grooved in concert with the storm's pulsing energy, and when I finally looked up from my reverie, twenty-odd strangers—toddlers and elders, Alaskans and Germans and Mongolians and Tucsonians, a uniformed ranger—had gathered to listen. Of course, their backs were turned to me, their eyes fixed on the distant horizon, the flashing lightning, the desert immensity, the real show. 'Nicely done,' an Aussie said. 'Thanks for the soundtrack, mate.' The sun rises above Grand Canyon National Park Sunday July 13th, 2025 as smoke from the Dragon Bravo Fire fills the canyon. Phantom Ranch and other lower trails were closed and evacuated due to a choline gas leak after a water treatment plant was damaged by the fire in the North Rim visitor area. Photograph by Stuart Palley This memory and a dozen others came to the surface, vivid and warm, the moment I learned that the North Rim was closing for the rest of the season, and that the popular inner corridor hiking trails were closing too, and that the Dragon Bravo Fire was expanding, and that the Lodge, my Lodge, our Lodge, everyone's Lodge, was officially gone. Gone? Seriously? I sent a message to Mike, my dear pal from the Kaibab, my best buddy from the absolute best summers imaginable, the individual who, I was certain, understood the weird mixed feeling, a braid of sorrow and joy: 'Dude. It burned. Terrible. Tragic. But damn am I grateful to have shared such sweet times there with you and the gang. Unbelievable privilege. Unbelievable spot. The Lodge is dead, long live the Lodge!' He responded: 'Let's meet on the patio in three years, once it's rebuilt. My daughter—I've been meaning to call you, we're expecting a baby girl!—will be eager to see the sunset.' Ashes, phoenixes, indeed.
Yahoo
06-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
ITV For Sale: Behind The Headlines Of A Deal That Everyone And No One Is Talking About
If you've watched ITV's The Assembly, you will know that it involves stars like Danny Dyer and David Tennant subjecting themselves to no-holds-barred questions from a captivating cast of neurodivergent interrogators. It makes for illuminating viewing, producing genuine revelations from its disarmed but obliging subjects, who enter the show in a spirit of openness. Far from the cameras, in a colorless room in the basement of London's 11 Cavendish Square townhouse on Tuesday, ITV chairman Andrew Cosslett was similarly squirming in the face of questioning, with less comical results. Chairing ITV's Annual General Meeting (AGM), Cosslett was grilled, almost heckled, by an angry shareholder demanding to know when the British broadcaster's 78p share price will rise after flatlining for more than three years. More from Deadline 'Inspector Ellis' Back On The Case With Season 2 Order From Acorn TV & 5; All3Media Strikes International Deals For Sharon D Clarke-Starring Crime Drama Crisis? What Crisis? ITV Studios Bosses Reject Talk Of Gloom In The Scripted Market But Note British Limited Series Are Under Threat Legacy Media? UK Pubcasters Balk At Outdated Term & Say "We've Got To Be Phoenixes Rising From The Ashes" 'This is not good enough, you must have some idea, you guys are very highly paid,' said the shareholder. Cosslett struggled to answer, reaching for what by now feels like an old fail-safe. 'If you can explain to me what Donald Trump will do next, then maybe I could,' he said. Questions around ITV's sticky share price — Cosslett and ITV boss Carolyn McCall faced three during the 45-minute AGM alone — are inextricably linked to the constant mutterings around its potential sale. On this matter, ITV has been a little less forthcoming with answers than the celeb bookings on The Assembly. The company that gave the world Downton Abbey has been finding new ways to say 'no comment' to inquiries about whether it will submit to suitors, including RedBird IMI and Banijay. Cosslett did, however, reveal a little more at the AGM, first noting that 'the board has an obligation to review offers,' before positing: 'If someone approaches with an offer we have to take interest and it's very clear from the room that there are lots of people interested in getting the share price up.' This week has been a high watermark for sale speculation. Twenty-six miles west of the AGM, ITV Studios' unscripted producers were gathering for their annual 'creative exchange' in Windsor. The meeting has long been in the diary, and although the sale was not officially on the agenda, it was certainly on the lips of those in attendance, some of whom expressed anxiety about a buyer smashing production labels together. 'People are scared sh**less — a lot of people will be losing their jobs,' said one producer. ITV matters, hence the steady drip of press reports and speculation. 'ITV creates more rumors than dramas,' joked one insider. The £3B ($4B) behemoth is a British cultural icon, which entertains the nation with Coronation Street and Britain's Got Talent. The company is also a world-straddling production titan, with ITV Studios boasting shows from Love Island to Rivals, and a great deal in between. Were the listed company to come under new ownership, or if it were to flog ITV Studios, it would profoundly reshape the British TV sector and reorder the global production power list. Flanked by its banking advisors at Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, and Robey Warshaw, ITV has reportedly been entertaining potential suitors since at least last November. RedBird IMI, run by former CNN chief Jeff Zucker, emerged as the frontrunner to a deal after the Abu Dhabi-backed investment fund acquired All3Media last year. The rumor mill continued to turn last month when The Financial Times reported that French media giant Banijay had held early-stage talks with ITV. The configuration of any deal is opaque, but what is clear is that ITV Studios is the prize for a buyer with production ambition. RedBird IMI's Interest Cools Four sources with knowledge of the talks told Deadline that RedBird IMI's interest has cooled significantly in recent weeks, though the situation remains fluid and could change again quickly. These people said RedBird IMI believes ITV Studios' valuation is too high. Ironically, ITV is said to be citing the £1.15B price RedBird IMI paid for All3Media — around 10 times All3Media's profit that year — as a benchmark for the valuation it is hoping to achieve, though Zucker has previously played down suggestions he overpaid for The Traitors production group. It would put a circa-£3B valuation on ITV Studios, which generated record profits of £300M last year. 'Valuation is always vexed,' someone drily noted. One source said RedBird IMI has reservations about ITV wanting ITV Studios' management team to remain in place post-deal, which has proved a sticking point. Any agreement could see ITV Studios boss Julian Bellamy and All3Media chief Jane Turton vying for the top job, for example. Turton, linked with the soon-to-be vacant Channel 4 CEO role, is said to have frustrations that RedBird IMI has not yet fully unleashed All3Media on the M&A market after it has missed out on targets, such as See-Saw Films. RedBird IMI and All3Media declined to comment. Banijay's talks are said to be tentative. The French production empire behind Big Brother and Peaky Blinders has the appetite for big buys following its €2B ($2.2B) acquisition of Endemol Shine in 2020 and its serious interest in All3Media more recently. Some think ITV Studios might be too big a bite for a company with a net debt pile of €2.6B. The FT reported that Banijay could look to involve other investors if it attempted to acquire all of ITV. 'Banijay is over-leveraged,' said one senior source from the M&A sector. 'They raised money when they bought Endemol but I don't think there are billions of pounds around at the moment to chase down media production content assets. The market is in trouble.' The potential to unlock savings by combining the companies is obvious, this source added, but they questioned whether ITV Studios has a 'game-changing' asset amongst its labels and sales arm to catapult Banijay to the next level. Banijay declined to comment. Sources point out that talks with RedBird IMI or Banijay have not matured to the point where ITV has needed to alert the market to a potential deal. Regulatory rules in the UK required the FTSE 250 company to tell shareholders in June 2023 that it was 'actively exploring' acquiring All3Media. Watching from the sidelines is Liberty Global, ITV's biggest shareholder with a 9.9% stake, which has long been a cheerleader for a sale. Shape Of A Deal Selling ITV Studios could be a simpler transaction, but where this would leave an ad revenue-dependent TV network business is unclear. The so-called Media & Entertainment division boasts sales of £2.1B, of which around a quarter is generated online, including via streaming service ITVX. It is a depreciating asset, but ITV has just been awarded a new license, meaning it is committed to broadcasting public service content for another decade. A full sale would likely attract the interest of UK regulators and lawmakers. This could be particularly thorny for Abu Dhabi-backed RedBird IMI, which has been told it cannot own The Daily Telegraph, let alone a public service broadcaster with guaranteed platform prominence and an audience of millions. Lord Grade, chairman of Ofcom, gestured to this when asked by lawmakers if the media regulator has any concerns about RedBird IMI's interest in ITV. He said this month that RedBird IMI is a 'peculiar' prospect because of its links to the United Arab Emirates government. An industry source told us RedBird IMI has 'never expressed any interest in the broadcast arm,' meaning the foreign ownership questions are not an issue. RedBird IMI's acquisition of All3Media was waived through without so much as an eyebrow being raised by the government. Grade also pointed out that foreign ownership of public service broadcasters is not off the table, given Paramount controls Channel 5. Banijay may be a more palatable option in this respect, with one person suggesting that the French producer could use the ITV network as a testing ground for new shows, akin to the way John de Mol has done at Talpa. There are other options. Some think ITV should explore a joint venture for ITV Studios, allowing it to secure investment and scale while maintaining some control. ITV CEO McCall, who has been in the job for more than seven years, has continued to bolster the production arm, recently sanctioning deals for The Gentlemen co-producer Moonage Pictures and Hartswood Films, the company behind Sherlock. Those close to her say she is unwilling to 'stand on touchlines' as consolidation goes on around ITV in a market where it is competing with Netflix, YouTube, and Meta for eyeballs and revenue. What can be said with certainty is that any deal will be complicated. Thomas Dey, a seasoned media industry M&A broker at investment bank ACF, summed it up like this: 'Achieving the transaction will be hard. I think you've got to be quite special and get quite a lot of support.' For now, ITV's future feels like the subject that everyone and no one is talking about. Best of Deadline Everything We Know About The 'Hunger Games: Sunrise On The Reaping' Movie So Far TV Show Book Adaptations Arriving In 2025 So Far Book-To-Movie Adaptations Coming Out In 2025 Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Yahoo
08-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
BBC & BritBox Unveil Latest Agatha Christie Adaptation
The BBC and BritBox International have landed on Endless Night as their latest Agatha Christie adaptation from Sarah Phelps. Set in 1967, the book is neither a Poirot or a Marple but follows man-of-many-trades Michael Rogers, who finds himself working as chauffeur for the enigmatic designer du jour Rudolf Santonix. Transfixed by Santonix's latest project, a beautiful house in the English countryside, Mike dreams of meeting the love of his life and taking up residence. But unbeknownst to Mike, the house that he has set his heart on has a dark past that goes back for centuries. More from Deadline 'Virdee' Creator A A Dhand Reveals The Unlikely Hero That Inspired Him To "Fail Forwards" During A Decade Of Rejection Legacy Media? UK Pubcasters Balk At Outdated Term & Say "We've Got To Be Phoenixes Rising From The Ashes" No Pope Yet: Vatican Conclave Blows Black Smoke On 1st Day Of Vote For New Pontiff The show is the latest in a long succession of Christie adaptations on the BBC and BritBox from Phelps and ITV Studios-owned Mammoth Screen, with the latest being Towards Zero starring Anjelica Huston. Fifth Season is selling worldwide. Phelps said: 'One of Agatha Christie's last novels, this is a chilling story of love, sex, deceit and death, of how far we'll go to get our hearts desire and what we'll do when night falls and the wolves start circling.' The news comes in the week the BBC unveiled an AI Agatha Christie, forged to teach a paid writing course on its BBC Maestro platform. The AI Christie was created with the blessing of the author's great grandson James Prichard, who runs Agatha Christie Limited. Endless Night (3×60') is produced by Mammoth Screen (part of ITV Studios) and Agatha Christie Limited, and is a co-commission between the BBC and BritBox International. Executive producers are Prichard for Agatha Christie Limited, Rebecca Durbin and Damien Timmer for Mammoth Screen, Phelps, Danielle Scott-Haughton for the BBC, and Robert Schildhouse, Jon Farrar and Stephen Nye for BritBox. Filming on Endless Night will take place later this year and casting will be announced in due course. The series will air on BBC iPlayer and BBC One, and on BritBox in the U.S. and Canada. Best of Deadline Book-To-Movie Adaptations Coming Out In 2025 TV Show Book Adaptations Arriving In 2025 So Far Everything We Know About 'Emily In Paris' Season 5 So Far
