Fitness guru Harley Pasternak is a busy guy, working on various TV series while keeping celebs like Jennifer Hudson, Lady Gaga, and Kanye West fi t. Still, he’s made time to partner with the Propel Co: Labs Fitness Festival, a two day event held in several cities designed to unite people through “one of a kind experiences for the mind and body.” The New York City version wrapped on July 14, and featured curated health food, guided meditations, hair braiding, massages, workout advice, and in a novel twist an “immersive soundscape,” including live performances by Ludacris, Icona Pop, and Yuna.

Pasternak’s tip for INDUSTRY readers: stay hydrated. “Whether before or after a workout, always remember to drink water!” He recommends that women drink about eight 8 oz. glasses of water a day and men up to ten. He also advises keeping healthy snacks always at hand (he keeps “little packets of prepackaged cashews, apples, and protein drinks around”). The fitness/music event travels next to Chicago on August 11, and tickets are $40.

SPECIAL SCREENING
The Japanese multinational personal care company Shiseido invited The Hills star Audrina Patridge and other beauty influencers to a special brunch at a Malibu beach house to debut its newest innovations in skin safety: Ultimate Sun Protection Lotion Wet Force SPF 50+ and Clear Stick UV Protector Wet Force SPF 50+. Both utilze technology that changes the way water and perspiration interact with a sunscreen (which means more time outside without a burn), and are ideal for sports, as they are waterproof for 80 minutes as well as gentle on the skin.

Lady Gaga and Jennifer Connelly are also big fans of the beautycare brand, which recently relaunched its Ultimune Power Infusing Concentrate a pretreatment to defend against aging and damage.

“GRAFF”IC CONTENT
The NBC series American Ninja Warrior has become a dependable hit, with its season four return episode in May winning the critical 18 to 49 demographic. Arguably its most valuable star is 34 year old stuntwoman, pole vaulter, and martial artist Jessie Graff .Born in NYC, Graff was athletically influenced, she revealed to NPR, by an iconic TV character: Xena Warrior Princess.
“She was this strong, heroic woman who rode around on a horse with a sword, and I wanted to be heroic like her,” Graff revealed, and she seemed to take some offense cues from the Princess. “I remember a bully who was whacking his jacket at a girl in school. I was this 50 pound kid in sixth grade, [but] ran up and round kicked him in the stomach. He stopped, looked at me, and he was like, ‘Did you just kick me?’ And I was, like, ‘Yeah!’ Then I just walked to class.”

SHORT RETURNS
Fans of Epix’s Get Shorty take note: season two’s debut is on August 12. The dark comedy, based in part on the bestselling Elmore Leonard novel of the same name, was created for TV by Davey Holmes (Shameless, In Treatment). It stars Chris O’Dowd as hitman Miles Daly, who comes to LA to whack someone but then discovers a taste for the movie business. So, he teams up with a down and out producer (Ray Romano).

This season, recurring guest star Raymond Cruz plays Swayze, the leader of a Latino prison gang who styles himself after Patrick Swayze, including long hair and ’80s dance moves! Felicity Hu man, Steven Weber, and Amy Seimetz also guest star. “Epix is proud to be the home of Get Shorty, which has been the perfect addition to our scripted original slate,” said Mark Greenberg, president and CEO of the channel. “It’s our most successful original scripted series to date…we are thrilled to be working again with MGM Television, [creator] Davey Holmes on a second season.”

FIGHT! FIGHT!
The Contender, a reality TV series that aired from 2005 to 2009 on NBC and ESPN and which followed the professional and personal lives of boxers as they competed against each other was a middling ratings success, but gained a passionate core following that lobbied for years for its return. Now, original producer Mark Burnett is returning with an Epix helmed version of the show, hosted by former professional boxer Andre “Son of God” Ward (seen here), who can also be seen this fall in the Rocky film spin-off Creed 2, reprising his role as Danny “Stuntman” Wheeler.

In the new version of the show, fight experts/mentors Freddie Roach and Naazim Richardson train a team of eight boxers, who, just as in the original series, live together while they get ready to duke it out in the ring. It’s part of a new push by Epix parent company MGM towards more original content for the network, which is currently distributed to just 50% of U.S. cable TV owning households.