June 14, 2019 10:23AM PT Gaten Matarazzo, known for his performance as the nerdy and adorable Dustin Henderson on “Stranger Things,” is branching out at Netflix. The streamer has put out an order for “Prank Encounters,” a hidden-camera prank show which Matarazzo will host. Each episode of the series will take two strangers who each think they’re
Month: June 2019
At the 2014 Cartoon Movie co-production forum in Lyon, France, I sat in on a pitch session for the strangest animated feature imaginable. (Remember, this is a medium that has given us square-pantsed sponges and rats who dream of becoming French chefs.) This particular film, an artsy — and, fittingly, hand-drawn — indie entitled “J’ai
June 14, 2019 10:03AM PT Oscar-nominated actor Richard E. Grant will portray a former drag queen and mentor in “Everybody’s Talking About Jamie,” the movie adaptation of the British stage musical. “Catastrophe” co-creator and star Sharon Horgan and “Happy Valley” star Sarah Lancashire have also joined the film. Max Harwood will play the titular role
Much has changed for the LGBT community since the 1993 release of the original TV adaptation of “Tales of the City,” something that producer Alan Poul took into account in revamping the LGBT classic in 2019. Poul spoke with Variety‘s “TV Take” podcast about what’s new in the latest iteration of the show. “We had to
There has been much said — and many headlines written — about peak TV providing almost 500 scripted series last year and showing no signs of slowing down. One area not often taken into consideration in that equation is short form, which is seeing its own emergence of creative, high-brow content. Some of the top
The son of the legendary Isaac Hayes is upset that there are no original Hayes tracks in the new “Shaft” movie, calling its soundtrack album “a cultural disaster.” New Line Cinema, which made the movie — starring Samuel L. Jackson, Richard Roundtree and Jessie T. Usher as three generations of the Shaft family — insists
In the summer of 1966, songwriter Johnny Mercer had his final Top 40 American hit with Frank Sinatra’s version of his song “Summer Wind.” That same summer, young songwriter Carole Bayer had her first chart hit with the English rock band the Mindbenders’ version of “A Groovy Kind of Love,” a song she co-wrote with
Directing any film or television show is a challenging feat, but there are extra complications for those who step in for an episode or two of a longer-running series: They have to lead a group of people who know the ins and outs of the storytelling, and the set itself, better than they do. The
Ron Howard is fast becoming a noted music documentarian: His 2016 film, “The Beatles: Eight Days a Week — the Touring Years,” released by Abramorama in theaters and Hulu on television, was a Grammy winner. His follow-up is “Pavarotti,” a doc about the man who became one of the most successful and beloved opera singers in
June 14, 2019 9:44AM PT Matt Bennett, the executive vice president of communications at the Motion Picture Association of America, has left the organization. Known as a megaphone and lobbyist for Hollywood’s major players in Washington, Bennett vacated the top spot weeks ago and has taken a job as spokesperson for American University. “We thank
June 14, 2019 9:41AM PT Roku users are getting another way to watch live television with the help of their favorite streaming devices: Silicondust, maker of the HDHomerun TV tuners, has released a beta version of its HDHomerun app for Roku TVs and streaming devices. “We need to start out by saying this is very
With politics dominating television from the actual news to talk and sketch shows, some writers and producers of scripted fare prefer to deliver escapist storytelling as an antidote. For others, reflecting the state of the world is imperative in order to keep their characters rooted in reality. The balance then becomes about finding a way
Film is often referred to as a director’s medium, while in television the writer, or at least the showrunner, is the one with the most control. Some select few, though, give themselves the opportunity to be hybrids, not only crafting the story on the page but also stepping behind the camera to shape notable episodes
The WGA writers boost and representing Los Angeles on screen were two of the topics most passionately discussed at the comedy panel for Variety‘s “A Night in the Writers’ Room” event. While the drama panel earlier in the evening delved into the struggle that newer writers face as a result of the WGA-ATA impasse, the gathering
June 14, 2019 9:02AM PT Last night’s sixth and final game of the 2019 NBA finals ended in a historic victory for the Toronto Raptors. The Canadian team became the first from outside the United States to claim the title, beating the defending champion Golden State Warriors 114-110 in a tense game. In terms of
June 14, 2019 9:00AM PT Lena Dunham will direct and executive produce “Industry” for HBO, an eight-part series following a group of twenty-somethings breaking into the world of international finance. Variety reported in late 2017 that Jane Tranter’s Bad Wolf production company (“His Dark Materials”) was developing the show for HBO. The premium cabler has
Just as in those 1970s-era Reese’s peanut-butter cups commercials — “You got peanut butter on my chocolate!” “You got chocolate in my peanut butter!” — comedy and drama are commingling more than ever in the age of peak TV. But such blurring of lines can cause complications when it comes to pitching and marketing series,
The best way to define one’s self — particularly laboring beneath a shadow as large as the Red Headed Stranger’s — is simply to go out and do. That’s been Lukas Nelson’s plan for the last decade, culminating in “Turn Off the News (Build a Garden),” his most polished and assured effort to date. Since
Staffers at Vox Media, which includes Curbed, Eater, Polygon, Recode, SB Nation, The Verge and Vox.com, have ratified their first collective bargaining agreement with more than 90% in support. The staffers are represented by the Writers Guild of America East. Vox Media’s 350-member unit began bargaining their first contract in April 2018. The campaign to
Jason Bentley has been at KCRW since he began as a volunteer in 1988, taking a weekend shift in 1992 before becoming elevated, for the past decade-plus, as music director and host of the public radio station’s influential “Morning Becomes Eclectic” show. Bentley’s Labor Day exit from those two jobs after his August 30 air
Here’s the latest chapter in the saga of Clevver, the entertainment/lifestyle YouTube network marooned by the shuttering of former parent Defy Media and subsequently snapped up by Hearst Magazines. Two of the principal creatives behind Clevver — Joslyn Davis and Lily Marston — together with Clevver Media co-founder Jorge Maldonado have launched Shared Media, their
The Sally aeranewyork.com The shoe needs of summer—lightweight and ready to party at any given moment—are so much more fun than the shoe needs of its opposite season (winter = waterproof = boring). I’ve figured out my go-to flat sandal, as well as my white sneaker, but a heel that could work for the office
Sony’s “Men In Black: International” has launched with $3.1 million at 3,472 North American locations in Thursday night previews. The fourth iteration of the sci-fi comedy franchise stars Chris Hemsworth and Tessa Thompson as black-suited agents dealing with a baffling series of alien attacks against the Earth. “Men in Black: International” is opening at 4,224
The WGA-ATA saga loomed large at Variety‘s “A Night in the Writers’ Room,” where showrunners and lead writers from several of the year’s best dramas gathered to discuss their business and craft. The big four agencies and the WGA finally agreed to return to the negotiating table last week after a weeks-long stalemate. But with
After eight years of designing for Kenzo, LVMH has announced that Humberto Leon and Carol Lim are exiting their roles as co-creative directors. Humberto Leon and Carol Lim Peter WhiteGetty Images When they joined, the duo made history as the first Asian-American creative directors in LVMH history (the company was founded in 1987), revitalizing the
June 14, 2019 6:30AM PT “Riverdale” star Lili Reinhart has come on board Amazon Studios’ coming-of-age drama-romance “Chemical Hearts.” Based on the novel “Our Chemical Hearts” by Krystal Sutherland, the film is currently shooting in New Jersey as an Amazon Original produced for Amazon Prime Video. Richard Tanne is directing from his own script. Producers
Refinery29 has been bitten by the “Bandersnatch” bug. The millennial-female-focused digital media and entertainment company inked a pact with Eko, an interactive-video platform developer whose backers include Walmart, to produce several “choose-your-own-adventure”-style series based on Refinery29 content properties. The companies have started development on their first project: an interactive scripted adaptation of Refinery29’s popular “Money
ANNECY, France — Disney Animation Studios, a long-time friend and collaborator of the Annecy Intl. Animation Festival, returned to the French town on Friday with three new shorts from its experimental animated shorts program Short Circuit, destined for Disney Plus, before providing an inside look at upcoming “Frozen 2.” Held at Annecy’s lakeside Bonlieu Theater,
It’s Pride Month, and popular YouTube vlogger Dan Howell had a message for fans that he’d been working on for a year: “Basically, I’m Gay,” he shared in a video Thursday. In the 45-minute video, Howell discussed coming to terms with his sexual orientation and his thoughts on labels that people use to define themselves
The Shanghai Film Festival has abruptly yanked its opening movie, the $80 million patriotic war drama “The Eight Hundred,” on the eve of the fest’s kickoff, Variety has confirmed. The cancellation of the Saturday premiere was made for unspecified “technical reasons,” which is often a euphemism for censorship problems. Though a source close to the
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