Month: January 2020

In today’s TV news roundup, ABC has scheduled the series finale dates for “How To Get Away With Murder” and “Modern Family,” and Netflix announced the launch date for “Ozark” Season 3.  DATES ABC has made some major changes to its programming slate. The network has scheduled the premiere date for “Modern Family’s” series finale
0 Comments
For Variety’s Jan. 2 cover story on Margot Robbie, she talked extensively about her passion project “Birds of Prey: And the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn.” She conceived of the Warner Bros./DC Entertainment movie while filming “Suicide Squad” almost five years ago. Her company, LuckyChap Entertainment, produced the $75 million film, set to be
0 Comments
Its economic message might be fuzzy. Its feminism, too. But best-friend comedy “Like a Boss” rides Tiffany Haddish and Rose Byrnes’s frisky and believable chemistry to laughs — some worn, some crude, but more than a few delivered deftly and consistently enough to keep audiences smiling if not doubled over. The two share the house
0 Comments
Audience Network as it currently exists is coming to an end. Variety has learned that the network, which has been owned by AT&T since the company acquired DirecTV, will cease operations this spring and transition into a preview channel for HBO Max, the upcoming streaming service from WarnerMedia, which is also owned by AT&T. “We
0 Comments
To deliver the “anti-hate satire” of “Jojo Rabbit,” the story of a German boy who idolizes his own particular vision of Hitler before slowly learning the truth, director Taika Waititi followed a simple philosophy when it came to assembling his crew: “I like working with nice people.”  Most of the members had previously collaborated with
0 Comments
Content partnerships are essential to the growth and success of Twitter, and the company has accelerated its work to make the service safer and easier to use, according to Matt Derella, global VP of revenue and content partnerships. Derella, in a wide-ranging headliner conversation at the Variety Entertainment Summit at CES in Las Vegas on
0 Comments
While it’s not quite fourth down and long for broadcast networks, lackluster scripted-programming ratings and cord-cutting woes are weighing heavily on the industry’s collective consciousness. So it’s particularly good news that one broadcast mainstay seems to have regained its mojo: live football. After a bumpy year or two, the 2019 NFL regular season grabbed an
0 Comments
When Rob McElhenney was initially approached by Ubisoft about writing a series set in the video game industry, he was reluctant: He didn’t see a way into that world. But when the company invited him to tour its Montreal headquarters, he figured there was nothing to lose. Once there, he found the inspiration he needed.  “I met a creative director” for one of Ubisoft’s games, McElhenney
0 Comments
January 8, 2020 2:30PM PT “Kidding” creator Dave Holstein and fellow executive producer Roberto Benabib have signed a first-look deal with Showtime. The deal will cover all projects they create and develop across multiple platforms. The duo are also forming a production shingle together called R&D Analytics, which will focus on developing “voice-driven television projects in
0 Comments
Jan. 17 — next Friday — will see the release of the first posthumous Mac Miller album, titled “Circles,” his family announced today. In a statement posted on the late rapper’s Instagram account, his parents wrote that “Circles” will positioned as “a companion album” to the final album released during his lifetime, “Swimming.” “At the time of
0 Comments
Barry Diller’s media company IAC has sold CollegeHumor Media, whose portfolio includes comedy site CollegeHumor, Drawfee, Dorkly and relatively new streamer Dropout, which debuted in September 2018, Variety has confirmed. The move resulted in over 100 layoffs at the company. In a “twist,” chief creative officer Sam Reich announced on Twitter that IAC had agreed to transfer
0 Comments
Variety‘s team of writers, editors, photographers and designers has been nominated for outstanding magazine overall coverage at the forthcoming 31st GLAAD Media Awards. Announced Wednesday, the annual ceremony honors fair, accurate and inclusive representations of LGBTQ people and issues in filmed content and journalism across platforms and languages. Variety won the outstanding magazine prize in
0 Comments
Merlin, the global digital-rights agency for the independent label sector, today announced the appointment of Jeremy Sirota as the organization’s new CEO. Sirota, who joins Merlin from Facebook’s music team, will be based in both New York and London. He succeeds Charles Caldas, who served as Merlin’s CEO since the agency’s founding in 2007. According
0 Comments