April 8, 2019 8:01AM PT Russian film and theater director Kirill Serebrennikov, whose film “Leto” (Summer) was in competition in Cannes last year, has been released from house arrest. He will remain on bail while a criminal charge against him for the alleged embezzlement of 130 million rubles ($1.98 million) is considered. Serebrennikov remains confident
Month: April 2019
Swedish furniture retailer Ikea and smart speaker maker Sonos announced their first two joint products Monday: The furniture giant will begin selling a $99 internet-connected bookshelf speaker and a $179 table lamp that doubles as a smart speaker this August. The two devices will be marketed under the Symfonisk branding, and both will be controllable
April 8, 2019 7:37AM PT WASHINGTON — Groups representing producers, filmmakers and other content creators are warning the Federal Trade Commission over the unintended consequences of adopting sweeping online privacy laws akin to those in the European Union. The FTC is reviewing privacy regulations and has been holding a series of hearings, including one scheduled
DJ/producer Diplo will host his newest live, curated event, the awesomely titled “Diplo Presents The Super Mega Ultra Giant Mad Decent Block Party Festival,” Saturday, July 20 and Sunday, July 21 at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Mass. The event will feature three music stages — The Block Party Stage, located on the Gillette Stadium field, The Super Mega Stage, and the Giant Ultra Stage — with performances from Billie Eilish,
Justin Bieber to Shawn Mendes Hold Your Horses, Eh? You’re Not Prince of Pop … Yet 4/8/2019 7:41 AM PDT Justin Bieber is stomping out any thoughts Shawn Mendes is the current Prince of Pop — but the title might be up for grabs … if Shawn wants to skate for it. JB responded to an IG post
DC Comics welcomed another hit with “Shazam!” Warner Bros. and New Line’s latest comic-book adventure powered box office charts, debuting with $53 million in North America and $102 million overseas. For many films in superhero space, that start could spell trouble. But for “Shazam!,” its $98 million price tag makes it a win. The DC
Rory Brown is leaving Turner’s Bleacher Report after a decade to join MTV in a newly created position as head of digital and social media for the MTV, VH1, CMT and Logo brands. In the new role, Brown will report directly to Jacqueline Parkes, chief marketing officer and executive VP of digital studios for MTV,
Univision Communications reached a deal to sell Gizmodo Media Group and The Onion to private-equity firm Great Hill Partners for an undisclosed amount. With the sale, Great Hill will form a new company called G/O Media Inc., headed by digital content industry vet Jim Spanfeller, who also will be a “significant investor” in the company.
April 8, 2019 6:40AM PT Sean Combs’ Revolt is expanding the scope of its live event business with a plan to grow its annual music summit into a multi-day event held in multiple cities. The Revolt Hip Hop Summit will be staged in Atlanta (July 25-27) and Los Angeles (Oct. 24-26) this year. The deal
April 8, 2019 6:39AM PT Just a week after Beyonce was crowned Entertainer of the Year at the NAACP Image Awards, the Beyhive has another reason to celebrate. Netflix posted a tweet Sunday teasing its rumored upcoming Beyonce concert documentary, which will reportedly highlight her 2018 performance at the Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival, and followed with
Adam Berenzweig considers the gesture recognition technology of “Minority Report” an ergonomic disaster. The constant whipping around of arms. Fingers that strum and tap at the air as if you’re conducting an orchestra. For all the cool gadgets that Hollywood science fiction can produce, the reality is they’re usually just impractical and uncomfortable. “People have
Discovery is launching a premium subscription streaming service in Italy, where it is the country’s third-largest free-to-air commercial broadcaster. The new SVOD service is being described as complementary to Discovery Italia’s existing ad-based video-on-demand service called Dplay, which is nearly four years old. Dplay includes content from its eight free-to-air channels, including Real Time, Dmax,
April 8, 2019 6:10AM PT Epic Records has named Michelle Belcher VP of the newly launched Epic Film & TV department, and John Kirkpatrick as SVP of Brand Marketing. Both will be based out of Los Angeles. Belcher will be tasked with curating high-profile soundtracks as well as establishing licensing opportunities for artists across the
Nigerian music streaming service uduX and Universal Music Group today announced the signing of a licensing agreement, making UMG the first major music company to license its catalog to the country’s first domestic streaming service. uduX is currently available via monthly subscription through the entertainment platform Habari by GTBank, which launched in November 2018. The service
Finn Buchanan flops into a chair like he’s been on his feet for a year. It’s raining in Paris, and both of us are a little floaty from the grueling thrill of Fashion Month. Buchanan has walked 11 shows in as many days and would have done more, if pesky French labor laws didn’t preclude
“Grace and Frankie” star Lily Tomlin joined comedian Kathy Griffin at Sunday’s block party celebration to help ring in the Los Angeles LGBT Center’s new campus. After breaking ground nearly two years ago, the Anita May Rosenstein campus is said to be the world’s first intergenerational LGBTQ facility, serving both LGBT seniors and youth. The
April 8, 2019 4:32AM PT Warwick Thornton, Garth Davis, Joel Edgerton and Anthony Maras go head to head at the Australian Directors Guild Awards. They are each nominated as best director in the category of films with a budget of A$1 million ($710,0000 and above, for “Sweet Country,” “Mary Magdalene,” “Boy Erased” and “Hotel Mumbai”
“P Storm,” the fourth installment of a Hong Kong crime thriller franchise, beat Warner Bros.’ new DC Comics superhero flick “Shazam!” by nearly $10 million over their three-day opening weekend in China, indicating a continued preference of Chinese audiences for local films over U.S. fare. According to data from consultancy Artisan Gateway, “P Storm” took
Japan’s largest talent agency, Yoshimoto Kogyo has made an investment in regional video streaming platform iflix. The two companies will also cooperate on showcasing Yoshimoto’s content across Asia, the Middle east and Africa. The value of the transaction was not disclosed. Nor was the size of the equity stake, though the two companies described it
April 8, 2019 2:42AM PT Private equity firm KKR has bought leading German film production company Wiedemann & Berg Film, which produced Oscar-winning film “The Lives of Others” and Oscar-nominated pic “Never Look Away.” The purchase follows KKR’s recent acquisitions of three other heavyweight German film and TV companies, Tele München Gruppe, Universum Film and
April 8, 2019 1:25AM PT Warnermedia’s Turner Asia Pacific has completed filming “The Haunted Heart,” its biggest budget series production. The Taiwan set drama stars Bryan Chang, star of recent hit movie “More Than Blue.” Nini Ou-yang co-stars as a female video games tester who has such a high level of intelligence that she is
Tekashi69 Here’s My Plan … To Get Sprung Outta Jail Early 4/8/2019 1:00 AM PDT EXCLUSIVE Tekashi69 thinks he will see blue sky again — outside of prison walls — before the end of this year, but he’s gonna need the very same people he snitched on to help him out. Tekashi and his former
April 8, 2019 12:32AM PT The Smithsonian Channel has signed a co-production deal with South Africa-based wildlife and factual entertainment producer Earth Touch for three new 50-minute wildlife documentaries set in the U.S., China and Mexico. The Mexico-set one, called “Migrating to Mexico,” will be Earth Touch’s largest budget production to date and shot in
It’s easy to get lost with all the news coming out of Cannes this weekend. Variety has gathered six stories that might have passed you by, or only just been officially annonced. “Magnus” Notches Hat Trick Indie U.K. distributor Hat Trick International has secured international rights to fantasy-laced police drama “Magnus.” Described to Variety by
CANNES — Hitting the ground running: “Dangerous Moms,” one of the first series sold by Mediterráneo Audiovisual, the newly integrated sales-production operation of Spain’s Mediaset España, won the MipDrama Buyers’ Summit Coup de Couer. The award was adjudicated by buyers attending the Summit on Sunday where 10 series titles were pitched via 15 minute extracts.
Expectation Entertainment has not only met expectations but exceeded them in the two years since it was set up, but given the track-record of its co-CEOs perhaps this should not be such a surprise. The company, led by Peter Fincham, formerly controller of BBC One and director of television at ITV, and Tim Hincks, latterly
ITV Studios has powered into MipTV with a slew of deals under its belt for both its homegrown British and international dramas. It has sealed free-TV deals for ITV series “The Bay” and pre-sales for upcoming BBC drama “Gold Digger.” ITV Studios Global Entertainment has also struck its first deals for Scandi series “Kieler Street”
Cottonwood Media and ZDF have given the greenlight to Season 3 of tween drama series “Find Me in Paris,” with Federation Kids & Family launching sales Monday at Cannes content market MipTV. The show, which combines ballet, modern dance, drama and comedy, follows the story of Lena Grisky, a time-travelling ballet dancer from 1905 in
Fueled by the demands of the digital marketplace and linked to evolving local tastes, dramatic series have attained unprecedented influence in the French television industry, marking a notable departure from the country’s longtime approach. For decades, international acquisitions dominated Gallic airwaves, while local production focused mainly on one-off telefilms, less-than-prestigious family shows and self-contained limited
The confluence of eager international buyers on the hunt for scripted dramas and strict local statutes that prioritize standalone production houses has had a galvanizing effect on the French television business. New actors have jumped into the fray, while other deep-rooted entities have refocused their attention toward series development. The landscape has significantly expanded, causing
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