The judge in the Lori Loughlin college admissions case said on Friday that he is disturbed by defense allegations of misconduct in the case, and asked prosecutors for further briefing. Loughlin’s attorneys have asked the judge to throw out the case, arguing that federal agents had pressured the cooperating witness, admissions consultant Rick Singer, to
Month: April 2020
Some TV doctors seem to be ignoring the real-world Hippocratic oath. In recent weeks, a trio of popular dispensers of lifestyle advice – Drew Pinsky, Mehmet Oz and Phil McGraw – have appeared on media outlets or via digital video downplaying the threat of the coronavirus pandemic, with remarks that undermine their credibility and urge
David Boorstein is joining Westbrook Studios as the senior vice president and head of scripted television development, Variety has learned exclusively. Westbrook Studios is a subsidiary of Westbrook Inc., which was founded in 2019 by Will Smith, Jada Pinkett Smith, Miguel Melendez and Kosaku Yada. In his new role, Boorstein will will report to Westbrook
It’s the second career (or “career,” in a loose, charitable manner of speaking) that top agent Richard Weitz never would have imagined he’d have, as recently as a month ago. “I’m like a booker,” laughs Weitz, a partner at William Morris Endeavor (WME) and co-head of its scripted television department, still surprised at his dominant
Freeform has decided not to renew its “Party of Five” reboot for a second season. The one-hour drama followed the five Acosta children as they navigated daily life struggles to survive as a family unit after their parents are suddenly deported to Mexico. It starred Brandon Larracuente as Emilio, Emily Tosta as Lucia, Niko Guardado
Taylor Swift’s “Lover Fest” will be something to love in 2021. The singer’s reps announced Friday that the remaining shows she had scheduled for this summer, including a handful of dates on the east and west coast in the United States, are being pushed back to next year. “I’m so sad I won’t be able
Netflix chief Reed Hastings and his wife, Patty Quillin, donated $30 million to Gavi Alliance, the nonprofit immunization organization started by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Geneva-based Gavi announced the cash donation from Hastings and Quillin on Friday, saying it’s the first private-sector contribution toward its drive to raise at least $7.4 billion to
“Presumption of competence.” This is the catchphrase and underlying philosophy of the work that Benjamin Maixner does as director of programs at Exceptional Minds, a not-for-profit professional training academy and studio designed to prepare individuals on the autism spectrum for careers in the digital arts. Founded in 2012 and with its first class graduating in
The psychology of power sits at the center of director Tayarisha Poe’s debut feature, “Selah and the Spades,” about the leader of one of five secret factions at an elite boarding school in Pennsylvania. The film, which generated buzz at Sundance last year, bows April 17 on Amazon Prime. Key to the movie’s look and
The 2020 San Diego Comic-Con, the largest fan convention in North America and one of the biggest promotional events of the year, has been canceled in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, organizers announced on Friday. The event, which pulls in upwards of 130,000 participants each year, was scheduled to be held from July 23–26.
The Writers Guild of America has proposed to start negotiations with studios in mid-May and extend the expiration of its contract two months to June 30. Representatives for the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers did not have an official comment on Friday so the May 11 start date is not yet locked down.
Last year, production designer Kate Bunch outfitted a Staten Island mansion for the Eastern European vampires who inhabit the TV mockumentary adaptation of 2014 comedy-horror film “What We Do in the Shadows.” For the FX on Hulu series’ second collection of shows, though, the job got a lot tougher. The new season required 20 to
Bon Iver have released “PDLIF” — “Please Don’t Live in Fear” — a new song aimed at supporting health workers on the front lines of the coronavirus pandemic. In an effort to provide essential medical items to health workers, the band is donating 100% of “PDLIF” proceeds to Direct Relief, the humanitarian aid organization coordinating
Multiple music industry organizations announced today that an agreement has been reached with California Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez and Majority Leader Ian Calderon on pending amendments to California’s “Gig Economy” Assembly Bill 5 (AB5) that will provide relief to the majority of affected music professionals, including recording artists, musicians, composers, songwriters and vocalists. Upon the Legislature’s
Big Thief today released “Demos Vol. 1 – Topanga Canyon, CA – Feb 2018,” a collection of previously unreleased songs from the sessions that spawned the group’s last two albums, “U.F.O.F.” and “Two Hands.” The demos are available to purchase with all proceeds benefiting Big Thief’s touring crew, which, like virtually every music road crew, has been financially stranded by
Sundance Institute is launching a $1 million fund to support the immediate needs of artists, filmmakers and organizations that share its focus on inclusive storytelling. The non-profit institute, which organizes the Sundance Film Festival, said that one-third of the fund will support Sundance Institute-curated artists. The rest is ear-marked for emergency support for the wider community of independent
The cast of “Too Hot to Handle” is blinding in exactly the way you’d expect from a show that throws hot singles together on a desert island with nothing but tiny bathing suits and flowing alcohol to entertain them. They’re taut and glistening, boasting chiseled pecs and meticulous false eyelashes, the better to lure each
Costume designer Joanna Mae Park and her husband Steven Jones, a production designer, had been working on Netflix’s “Pieces of Her” in Canada in mid-March when television and film productions the world over began rapidly shutting down amid a collective effort to stem the spread of the deadly coronavirus. The couple had moved all the
SeriesFest is expanding its commitment to female-forward initiatives, renewing its partnership with Shondaland, introducing an Executive Elevation Mentorship Program and presenting a live-streamed roundtable discussion about the current state of parity in the industry, Variety has learned exclusively. Additionally, Christina YR Jun has won the Women Writing Competition, which comes from SeriesFest in partnership with
Before the coronavirus outbreak put Italy on lockdown in early March, writer-director Niccolò Ammaniti was in Palermo, shooting “Anna,” a series for Comcast-owned pay-TV operator Sky centered on a 13-year-old Sicilian girl who must contend with a viral contagion that kills off all adults on the island of Sicily. “We were shooting scenes in which
Vox Media, which owns titles including New York Magazine, Vulture, The Verge and SB Nation, is furloughing 9% of its employees without pay for a three-month period. It’s also taking other steps to cut costs during the COVID-19 downturn, including tiered salary reductions for remaining working staff and halting 401(k) matching contributions. Effective May 1-July
Netflix has unlocked a selection of educational documentary films and series — available now for free on YouTube — saying it’s a way to help teachers and students during the COVID-19 quarantine. The 10 titles include Ava DuVernay’s “13th,” covering the mass-incarceration of people of color in the U.S.; nature docuseries “Our Planet,” narrated by
Cannes’ Marché du Film will be hosting virtual booths for sales agents, video meetings, virtual pavilions for institutions and online screenings during its upcoming digital market edition, which will run June 22-26. The Marché du Film Online, which will run alongside the agencies-led virtual market, will also turn its popular conferences, including Cannes Docs, Cannes
Sony Pictures Classics has acquired worldwide rights, excluding domestic television, to the upcoming Julia Child documentary from “RBG” filmmakers Julie Cohen and Betsy West. The film, currently in production under the working title “Julia,” is being produced by West, Cohen and Imagine Documentaries’ Justin Wilkes and Sara Bernstein. “Julia” will use never-before-seen archival footage, personal photos,
Sandra Oh was getting ready to leave her Los Angeles home for Canada when the world appeared to come to an abrupt stop during the coronavirus pandemic. She was set to shoot Iris K. Shim’s horror movie “Umma” in “the wilds of north Vancouver,” Oh says during an appearance on this week’s episode of the
ABC provided a spoonful of sugar to make the self-isolation medicine go down on Thursday night with the “Disney Family Singalong,” which scored massive numbers for the network. The singalong scored a 2.6 rating among adults 18-49, more than doubling its nearest competitors on the night, and drew 10.3 million total viewers. That rating is the
Providing atmosphere, lending emotion and propelling the action, an orchestral score adds much to a TV series, so when the coronavirus threat shut down Hollywood five weeks ago, composers faced a quandary: How to retain that special sound if musicians can no longer record together in the same studio? The answer, as heard in Tuesday
In this week’s International TV Newswire Movistar Plus booms on Phase II COVID-19 consumption; and there are deals a plenty. ZDF Enterprises sold “Queens of Mystery” while Beta’s “Love, Inevitably” was a ratings hit in its first week before sales in France, Switzerland and Brazil were announced. Recently premiered clairvoyant Canadian series “The Outbreak” has
John Oates, one half of Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductees Hall & Oates, is part of one of the most robust catalogs in modern pop music, spanning six No. 1 singles and 16 top 10s. He also happened to sport music’s most iconic ‘80s mustache. So it was only a matter of time
With live sports dormant, ESPN wants to get as much bang for its buck out of “The Last Dance.” Alongside the linear airings of “Last Dance,” which premieres this Sunday (April 19) at 9 p.m. ET, the ESPN Plus streaming service will present “Detail: 1998 Chicago Bulls,” with five episodes over the next five Sundays.
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