Behind the Scenes Buzz with Netflix and Will Smith

NETFLIX LAUNCHES L.A. COMEDY FEST: The mega-streamer Netflix is set to kick off the Netflix Is a Joke Fest in L.A. Held from April 27 to May 3, Dave Chapelle, Amy Schumer and Ali Wong are headlining. Ken Jeong, Iliza Shlesinger, David Letterman, Jamie Foxx, Jane Fonda, Lily Tomlin, Kevin Hart and Martin Lawrence will also perform at 20 venues in the city.

THE INVISIBLE MAN COMES CLEAN: The Invisible Man star Oliver Jackson-Cohen talked to The Hollywood Reporter about the particulars of shooting the film’s titular character, mostly offscreen. Elisabeth Moss costars in the horror reboot. He said: “It’s quite funny because you rarely see Adrian, but Lizzie [Elisabeth Moss] and I definitely felt it was important that I be there. I was there on set an awful lot, and I just think it helped her. She’s a phenomenal actor, but we just sort of felt that if we’re gonna do this, let’s do this properly. So, I was there – sometimes in a green suit – which is the most embarrassing thing you can ever wear. I definitely wanted to aid in making the terror that Cecilia experiences as real as possible.” He can soon be seen in The Haunting of Bly Manor, the much anticipated follow-up to Mike Flanagan‘s hit Netflix anthology series, The Haunting of Hill House.

WILL SMITH, JJ WATT, OTHERS INVEST IN SOCIAL MEDIA: Public.com, an early-stage company has brought on Hollywood heavyweights to invest in its social-investing app. Will Smith, JJ Watt and Girlboss founder Sophia Amoruso helped lead the $15 million Series B round. The social-investing app allows members to buy shares in publicly traded companies for as little as $5 and doesn’t charge com,issions. “People see investing in the stock market as a daunting process,” said Public.com co-CEO Jannick Malling. The app’s “social layer enables the first phase of an investing journey – you don’t need to invest $10,000 upfront.”

NBC PLANS CRIME-DRAMA MOTHS: NBCUniversal International Studios and its in-house streamer Peacock are teaming up with Marchella producer Buccaneer Media and Danish writer Ingeborg Topsoe on the crime drama series Moths. The story will follow a young woman in California who finds out her sister died of apparent suicide in Tokyo, and sets out to find the truth. This will be NBCUniversal’s first drama to shoot in Japan.