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Over the past decade, thanks to the efforts of anime production companies like Studio Ghibli and streaming services like Netflix voice acting has experienced a celebrity boom and that's even been seen in the realm of Anime.

Previously, the important work of voice actors for animated movies and television series largely took a back seat to the artwork or music of a feature, and voice acting jobs were given to people who had exceptional vocal abilities or experience in radio. Voice acting wasn't seen as a pathway to success for people who desired to be seen, especially for dubbing jobs. Eventually, however, the success of a few animated features using the voice of celebrities led to a deluge of interest. Now celebrity voice actors are the rule rather than the exception for big-budget content. Moreover, as anime has become increasingly popular, more and more celebrities are agreeing to dub anime...

Prince Charles, a long-time supporter of the waterways, will become the first Patron of the new Canal & River Trust, the body being set up to care for the historic canals and rivers of England and Wales.

Tony Hales, Chairman of the Canal & River Trust, says: “We are absolutely delighted that The Prince of Wales has agreed to become the Canal & River Trust’s founding Patron. As a passionate advocate for British heritage, nature, communities and tourism, The Prince will be an important voice of support for the Trust. The Prince’s patronage is further testimony to the incredible and wide-ranging support the Canal & River Trust has already received, and an important milestone in our journey towards establishing this exciting new charity.”

The Canal & River Trust is due to be launched this summer, taking over the waterways, museums and properties of British Waterways and The Waterways Trust in England and Wales.

Why did the 1997 movie take on The Avengers go so wrong? What’s it like to direct Sharon Stone? And how do you recover when your movie is slammed by the critics?

In part one of our interview with Jeremiah Chechik, he talked about working with John Hughes, being noticed by Kubrick and Spielberg, and making the wonderful Benny & Joon.

Here, he takes us through working with movie stars, on both Diabolique, and on Warner Bros' big-screen take on The Avengers. Incidentally, we should point out that this interview was conducted before the recent stories about Kevin Smith and Bruce Willis on the set of Cop Out surfaced.

Without further ado...

I interviewed Kevin Smith last year, and talked about working with Bruce Wills on Cop Out. The interesting thing talking to him was it was very clear that the mechanics of making the movie had changed as soon as...