Sony Pictures Television is close to taking a stake in “Sex Education” producer Eleven. It is understood that Sony has beaten off a number of potential buyers for U.K.-based Eleven, whose standing has been buoyed internationally by the success of Netflix hit “Sex Education.” Sony is said to be close to taking a significant stake
Month: April 2020
While Spotify’s 2020 first-quarter report would have been mixed under normal circumstances, CEO/cofounder Daniel Ek and CFO Paul Vogel were downright enthusiastic at times during the company’s earnings call Wednesday morning, reflecting that the world’s biggest music-streaming service has been less impacted by the coronavirus pandemic and the ensuing lockdown than it might have been.
Dashboard Confessional today released their installment in the Spotify Singles series: a “reimagining” of their breakthrough hit “Screaming Infidelities” and a cover of Post Malone’s “Circles,” both recorded earlier this year at New York’s Electric Lady Studios. “Infidelities” was first released on the band’s 2000 album “The Swiss Army Romance” and is here reworked into
“AngelHeaded Hipster,” a long-percolating tribute album to Marc Bolan and T. Rex — featuring U2, Elton John, Nick Cave, Joan Jett, Lucinda Williams and Father John Misty, and which is a companion to a forthcoming documentary film on the legendary rocker — is due on Sept. 4. The first track from the album, Cave’s take on Bolan’s
YouTube Originals is to host a four-hour lockdown live stream on Thursday featuring YouTube creators and talent including Saffron Barker, Jack Maynard and Big Narstie. The remotely produced “Stream #WithMe” event is designed to support, entertain and educate viewers in lockdown, and will see the talent — which also includes Lady Leshurr, Colin Furze, Yammy
Content consumption on Spotify’s streaming platform has been dramatically affected by the COVID-19 crisis — with usage initially down in areas affected by lockdown orders — but the company saw a rebound in active listeners in Q1. Spotify said it will slow hiring for the rest of 2020 “until we have better visibility into the
Taking one big bull by the horns, the second online industry talk at Switzerland’s Visions du Réel debated Tuesday evening the impact of COVID-19 across pretty much the whole of the movie value chain. At least five of the six panelists on the online round table, The Film Industry in Corona Times: Labs, Markets, Sales,
Noah Media Group has acquired international sales rights to Lorton Entertainment’s “Make Us Dream,” the story of soccer star Steven Gerrard, produced by Oscar-winner James Gay-Rees (“Amy,” “Senna”), and “Bleed Out,” HBO’s critically acclaimed documentary investigating medical malpractice in the U.S., produced by Oscar-winner Dan Cogan (“Icarus”). “Make Us Dream” tells the story of Liverpool
Prominent members of the Indian film industry took to social media to share an outpouring of grief following the death on Wednesday of top actor Irrfan Khan. Khan starred in Indian films including “Salaam Bombay,” Asif Kapadia’s BAFTA winner “The Warrior” and Tigmanshu Dhulia’s “Paan Singh Tomar.” His credits in Hollywood included “The Life of
The British Film Institute’s newly installed chief executive, Ben Roberts, has said one “silver lining” of COVID-19’s devastating impact on the U.K. film industry is a “radical rethink” for the financing and distribution prototypes surrounding independent film, which are now operating on a more equal playing field online. “We absolutely cannot miss this moment to
Losses at Huayi Brothers Media one of China’s longest-running private sector film studios, hit $567 million in 2019. CEO Jerry Ye (aka Ye Ning) has resigned and will be replaced as head of film operations by James Wang Zhonglei, co-founder of the group and its current deputy chairman. The company issued several dozen documents to
Irrfan Khan, the wide-eyed actor who enjoyed art house acclaim in his native India and crossover-success with major Hollywood roles including “Life of Pi,” “Jurassic World” and “Inferno,” died on Wednesday. He was 53. Khan was previously diagnosed with a neuroendocrine tumour in 2018 and underwent extensive treatment in London. He recovered well enough to
“Songland” hitmakers Ester Dean, Shane McAnally and Ryan Tedder took a moment out of quarantining at home and Zoom songwriting sessions to host a listening party prior to the April 27 episode with guest H.E.R. The NBC series is only three episodes into its new season and has already charted two No. 1s on iTunes
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences made some big announcements Tuesday regarding the 2021 Oscars, but insiders say they probably won’t have too much impact on today’s awards business. “I wasn’t surprised by anything,” one awards consultant said. “I had a feeling most of this was coming.” Getting the most traction is the
In today’s film news roundup, Romola Garai’s “Amulet” and crime drama ”Punching And Stealing” find homes and the Human Rights Watch Film Festival unveils a digital edition. ACQUISITIONS Magnet Releasing, the genre arm of Magnolia Pictures, has acquired North American rights to the horror movie “Amulet,” the feature directorial debut of actress-turned-filmmaker Romola Garai. The film,
Sen. Ted Cruz wants to cut off Defense Department cooperation for Hollywood productions that allow Chinese authorities to censor their films. The Texas Republican announced a bill on Tuesday that would bar the Pentagon from working with productions unless they commit not to alter their content to accommodate Chinese censors. The bill would also forbid
Ellie Chu is a small-town Cyrano, with a twist, in Netflix original “The Half of It,” which could well be the most literary high school movie to come along in the short lives of its adolescent audience — and not just because writer-director Alice Wu was loosely inspired by a late-19th-century French play that most
In today’s TV News Roundup, Amazon released the trailer for Season 2 of “Homecoming,” and Netflix announced the premiere date for the final episodes of “Fuller House.” DATES Netflix has announced that the second half of the fifth and final season of “Fuller House” will debut on the streamer on June 2. The first nine
The “Disney Family Singalong” continued to waltz its way to the top of the ratings charts for the week of April 13. After seven days of delayed viewing, almost 13 million viewers have tuned in to the special which saw the likes of Ariana Grande, Josh Gad, John Stamos, Auliʻi Cravalho, and Christina Aguilera belt
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences will be on the “frontlines” when it comes time to encourage people to return to movie theaters, say president David Rubin and CEO Dawn Hudson. “We’ll be leading that campaign. We’re already talking to filmmakers about that,” Hudson told Variety on Tuesday afternoon. “We’re already talking about
Universal Music Publishing has unveiled UMPG Music Solutions, combining its worldwide networks of sync and custom music offerings for film, television and advertising. Client inquiries will be managed by UMPG’s local sync offices, as well as through Universal Publishing Production Music, according to the announcement. More information is available at http://www.umpgmusicsolutions.com/. The service provides a single point of access
T-Pain has been thinking a lot about TP lately. “I finally found out that my wife poops,” the artist joked from his isolation at his home in Atlanta during a “Variety Live!” interview. “We’ve been married for 17 years, but I think she waits to poop until I go on the road. Now that I
If you want to consider how far we’ve come since early March, when the debate over whether South by Southwest should be held went on nearly to the eve of the festival, consider this: Folk Alliance International, the top annual conference for acoustic musicians, has made the decision to cancel its next conference… 10 months
AMC Theatres has hit hard at Universal Pictures, announcing it will no longer play any of the studio’s films in the wake of NBCUniversal CEO Jeff Shell’s promise to open titles on premium and in theaters at the same time. Universal used the PVOD format to release “Trolls World Tour” on April 10 amid the
Lionsgate has hired “American Hustle” scribe Eric Warren Singer to write “Now You See Me 3,” the latest installment in the franchise based on a fresh take by Singer. The first two movies in the “Now You See Me” series have taken in $687 million worldwide cumulatively. The previous films starred Jesse Eisenberg, Woody Harrelson,
Leaders of the Writers Guild of America have told members that the guild will press on in its legal battle with WME, CAA and UTA over packaging fees in the wake of a federal judge’s decision to dismiss most of the guild’s lawsuit against the talent agencies. The WGA sent a message to members Tuesday,
In a new interview with U.K. publication The Sunday Times, Canadian singer-songwriter Alanis Morissette made some revelatory comments concerning the #MeToo movement in the music industry as she reflected on her decades-long career. With her iconic breakthrough record “Jagged Little Pill” celebrating its 25th anniversary in June, Morissette — who began her career as a
Julie Nathanson, a veteran publicist who served as a senior executive at Rogers & Cowan for more than 20 years, died of cancer April 26 at her home in Hollywood. She was 68. During her long career Nathanson represented such stars as Raquel Welsh, Michael Urie, Terry Bradshaw, Frank Langella, Bruce Greenwood and “American Pickers”
Making half an hour of scripted, original television in the middle of a pandemic isn’t easy, but “Parks and Recreation” co-creator Mike Schur told press Tuesday that the current climate presented a “compelling reason” to create one more story for Leslie Knope and other beloved characters from the NBC series for the fundraising special that
Viewership for all three of the nation’s main cable-news outlets soared in April as viewers tuned in at all hours for information on the spread of the coronavirus pandemic. While Fox News captured the most viewers during the month, CNN notched the biggest audience gain across its total day, scoring an increase of 179% in
- « Previous Page
- 1
- …
- 3
- 4
- 5
- 6
- 7
- …
- 50
- Next Page »