Brenda Gazzar is a freelance reporter who has worked for a variety of news outlets in California and the Middle East for more than two decades. Besides covering entertainment for The Wrap, she has covered everything from breaking news to immigration to law and order as well as race, religion, gender issues, and politics. Her work has also been published by Reuters, Ms. Magazine, USA Today, Christian Science Monitor, The Jerusalem Post, The Denver Post, Los Angeles Daily News, The Orange County Register and numerous other publications. Brenda speaks Spanish, Hebrew and moderate Arabic and is the recipient of national, state and regional awards. She is the host and co-producer of Code WACK!, a podcast about America’s broken healthcare system, and a life coach. When she’s not writing or coaching, she can be found hiking on her favorite coastal trail in Orange County.
Experience:
Resides In:
Orange County, Ca.
Education:
Brenda has a bachelor's in Political Science from Cal State University San Bernardino and a dual master's degree in Communications and Middle Eastern Studies from the University of Texas, Austin.
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Fur-loughed: With Hollywood on Strike, Animals Are Out of Work Too
On-set conditions aren’t always ideal, but protections for featured creatures when they’re off camera are far more lax
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Movies
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Randall Park Credits His Hollywood Startup’s Success to ‘Deep Friendship and Trust’
Office With a View: Imminent Collision’s cofounder is looking beyond the strikes to tell Asian American stories with his partners
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Movies
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California’s Devastated Live Theater Industry Hopes for a Bailout: ‘We’re All Dying’
The performing arts sector contributes billions of dollars a year to the state economy, but is struggling to recover from COVID, rising costs and tighter employment rules
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Politics
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A Wave of Native Representation on TV Is Rising – but It Faces an Unforgiving Media Market
Streaming opened up opportunities for Indigenous creatives to tell their own stories, but Peacock’s cancellation of “Rutherford Falls” highlights how tough it is for new shows to last
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TV
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Trump’s Travel Ban Kicked Off a Wave of Muslim Stories on TV
The former president’s discriminatory policy might be a surprising catalyst, but from “Mo” to “Ms. Marvel,” writers and directors dedicated to telling their own stories are changing how Hollywood depicts those born into the faith
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TV
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This Story Was Not Written by a Robot: AI and the Future of News Media
Media outlets from the AP to local news sites are already using AI to cover sports, weather and finance.
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Media
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Commercial Filming’s Decline Is Taking a Toll on LA Homeowners, Too
Some locals who turned their backyards into backlots are feeling the loss
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Movies
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The ‘Leave It to Beaver’ Street Is Looking More Like Today’s LA
“Anywhere, U.S.A.,” the Cameron Woods neighborhood loved by location scouts for its white picket-fence look, is gradually becoming more diverse
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Culture
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All LA Production Is in Decline – But Commercial Production Is Especially in Danger | Chart
A recent decrease in shooting in the industry’s home city was largely driven by a drop in advertising work
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TV
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How Female Cinematographers Defy Hollywood’s ‘Abysmal’ Odds for Success: ‘Never Let It Deter Me’
“Filmmaking is not a male skill… we can all be storytellers,” cinematographer Polly Morgan tells TheWrap
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Movies
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Kanye ‘Ye’ West Has Spouted Antisemitic Lyrics, Nazi Comments Since 2005 | Special Report
Wrap Investigation: The musician has made problematic statements about Jewish people — many of them public — on at least a half-dozen occasions
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Culture
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David Letterman Netflix Show Cut Out Kanye ‘Ye’ West Comments on ‘Nazis’ and Rihanna Payback (Exclusive)
Audience members at the live taping said it was “shocking” the comments were removed
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Culture
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Me Too. International CEO Says Its Work Isn’t Centered in the Movement’s Perceived ‘Gotcha Mentality’
Office With a View: Dani Ayers says that while #MeToo is perhaps best known for taking sexual assaulters down, the organization’s focus is on the victim
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Culture
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‘Brainwashed’ Director Rails Against Hollywood Misogyny: ‘The World Is Still in the Dark Ages’
Nina Menkes addresses critics of her new documentary and why people have a need to defend how movies have historically filmed women
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Movies
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5 Years of #MeToo: How the Movement Spread Beyond Hollywood – for Better and for Worse
A half decade since the hashtag went viral, we can see the awareness it has created, but we’re also struggling with what to do with the knowledge
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Culture
Available to WrapPRO members