Month: February 2019

During a time in which competing for children’s attention is tougher than ever, National Geographic Kids is looking to expand its reach with a multi-platform approach that includes a deeper dive into fictional content and digital video offerings. Brand-new middle-grade book (plus multimedia) series “Zeus the Mighty” launches this fall, National Geographic Kids and Family content
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Big-budget Korean-made animation “Red Shoes and the Seven Dwarfs” has been set up for a wide international release through a slew of local distributors. The film, a modern English-language retelling of “Snow White,” features the voices of Chloe Grace Moretz, Sam Claflin and Gina Gershon as Snow White, Merlin and the Witch Queen, respectively. Sales
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February 7, 2019 1:11PM PT Nisha Ganatra, who directed the Sundance darling “Late Night,” is in negotiations to helm Universal and Working Title’s upcoming film “Covers,” sources tell Variety. Not much is known about the project, written by first-time screenwriter Flora Greeson, other than it being a romance set in the Los Angeles music world.
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The uncertainties that loom over the media in mainland China could soon spark a renaissance of Taiwan’s film and television industries, with an increasing number of international and regional players planning to produce Mandarin-language content on the island that would target Chinese audiences worldwide. Taiwan’s free environment, lower production costs and abundance of Mandarin-speaking talent
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European connections with the vast Chinese film market will be given a boost during the Berlinale with the return of the Bridging the Dragon event series. This week sees an unusually large selection of mainland and Greater China productions across the Berlin Film Festival’s different sections. They include three Chinese films – Wang Quan’an’s “Ondog,”
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As with Wang Xiaoshuai, who also appears in competition at Berlin, Wang Quan’an belongs to what Chinese call the sixth generation of filmmakers. That means he is in his 50s, grew up in the immediate aftermath of the Cultural Revolution (1966-76), and has witnessed for himself China’s headlong rush into industrialization, urbanization and modernity. Unlike
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Dan Lin’s production company, Rideback, and Media Rights Capital (MRC) have partnered to launch the Rideback TV Incubator. The incubator offers a paid, eight-month residency program to a group of eight writers who have each previously been staffed on series and want to create their own drama series for cable and streaming. The goal of
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Loitering around the mall food court will always hold a special place in our hearts, but online shopping has literally everything. Admit it, you can’t beat at-home bra fittings and discovering indie brands from across the globe, all from the comfort of your couch. But with so many sites popping up, online shopping can be
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February 7, 2019 12:00PM PT Netflix is bringing smart downloads to its iOS app: The streaming service’s iPhone and iPad apps will now automatically download the next episode of a show when users have finished watching a downloaded episode. “The faster our members can get to the next episode of their favorite stories, the better,”
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February 7, 2019 11:16AM PT No name is not an especially small bar, but its stage is jammed into a corner to the right of the entrance, and while the proprietors have gussied it up with purple velour curtains and some eye-catching light fixtures, there’s a roadhouse vibe that will probably remind anyone performing there
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Roadside Attractions has acquired North American rights to Nick Broomfield’s documentary “Marianne & Leonard: Words of Love,” which premiered last month at the Sundance Film Festival. Broomfield’s film focuses on the love story between the late Canadian folk singer Leonard Cohen and his Norwegian muse, Marianne Ihlen. The announcement was made Thursday by Roadside co-founders
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February 7, 2019 10:48AM PT After R. Kelly tweeted (and then deleted) his announcement of new international tours, Australian politicians swiftly called to block the R&B artist from entering the country. Members of the opposition Labor Party released a statement about Kelly, saying, “Labor strongly supports the refusal or cancellation of visas of non-citizens on character
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February 7, 2019 10:34AM PT Venice-based Autlook Filmsales has boarded sales on “A Dog Called Money,” Seamus Murphy’s documentary about award-winning British musician PJ Harvey. The film is in the Panorama sidebar and will have its world premiere on 9 Feb. Photo journalist and filmmaker Murphy accompanied Harvey on trips to Afghanistan, Kosovo, and Washington
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Following are the top music industry companies and executives that are part of the R&B resurgence: Atlantic Records Atlantic Records played a huge role in bringing the original rhythm and blues to the mainstream in the 1950s and ’60s, and it’s carried that tradition into the present thanks to the power trio of co-chairs Craig
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February 7, 2019 10:00AM PT Christopher McQuarrie and Anthony Peckham have signed on to “The President Is Missing,” the drama series based on the novel of the same name by Bill Clinton and James Patterson currently in development at Showtime. McQuarrie will executive produce with Heather McQuarrie, Clinton, and Patterson. Peckham will write the adaptation
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A master builder’s daring rescue, a mindreader with success on her mind, and a snowplow man’s revenge! Will you see ‘The LEGO Movie 2: The Second Part’, ‘What Men Want’, or ‘Cold Pursuit’ in theaters this weekend? ► Buy Your Tickets Now: https://www.fandango.com?cmp=MCYT_YouTube_Desc Tune-in to Weekend Ticket every Thursday to help you decide what to
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CBS News unveiled a new top executive structure, another sign of how Susan Zirinsky, the unit’s incoming president, intends to manage operations going forward. Kimberly Godwin was named executive vice president of news, with top editorial oversight of newsgathering around the world. Charles Pavlounis was given expanded duties as executive vice president of business development
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February 7, 2019 8:33AM PT In a discouraging sign for the future of PledgeMusic, the financially challenged direct-to-fan platform advised artists to “suspend” their campaigns via an email, which was obtained by Variety late Wednesday. Representatives for five artists who have worked with the company in recent months confirmed they had received the email; one
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