Month: May 2020

“Doctor Strange” helmer Scott Derrickson will direct the sequel to Jim Henson’s fantasy musical “Labyrinth” for TriStar Pictures. Lisa Henson of The Jim Henson Company is producing. Brian Henson is executive producing. Derrickson is executive producing with his frequent collaborator, C. Robert Cargill. Blanca Lisa, vice president of feature film production, is shepherding the project
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Jimmy Fallon is facing backlash after a 20-year-old video of him in blackface portraying Chris Rock on “Saturday Night Live” resurfaced online. The hashtag #jimmyfallonisoverparty began trending early Tuesday with Twitter users calling out the “Tonight Show” host for the racist skit, which first aired in 2000 and also features “SNL” alum Darrell Hammond. In
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Victor VIRGILEGetty Images From the start of the coronavirus pandemic, the fashion industry has faced its troubles. Store closures, legacy brands filing for bankruptcy, and as of late, fashion houses postponing or canceling upcoming fashion shows. Gucci is the latest house to switch up its Fashion Week strategy announcing that it will only show two
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New Zealand will get a new, large, film production complex with the opening next month of X3 Studios, near Auckland. Developer, Xytech Studio Management says that the site has been purpose built for large scale ‘build the world’ productions, in which the entirety of a film or show is conducted in a controlled studio environment.
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May is Asian Pacific American Heritage Month, and for the first-ever installment of Variety‘s “#REPRESENT: Success Stories,” five Asian American creatives — Kumail Nanjiani, Hasan Minhaj, Lulu Wang, Jon M. Chu and Ally Maki — gathered for a lively virtual roundtable centered on their careers thus far in Hollywood. Reflecting on the launch of his
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Being able to buy a washer/dryer, refusing to play into stereotypes for roles, the ability to say “no” — that’s how a few of Hollywood’s most prominent Asian Americans have defined success over the course of their careers. In honor of Asian Pacific American Heritage Month in May, Variety gathered prominent AAPI creatives Kumail Nanjiani
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Grammy Award-winning songwriter and producer Rodney Jerkins, whose credits include songs by Michael Jackson, Jennifer Lopez, Mariah Carey and Beyoncé, is no stranger to working with nervous artists in the studio. But having actress Tracee Ellis Ross in the vocal booth presented a different kind of challenge. “Any artist would feel intimidated when you’re Diana
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Twitter issued a public apology to the family of a woman whom Donald Trump has repeatedly insinuated in tweets may have been murdered by MSNBC host Joe Scarborough. But for now, the social network isn’t taking any actions against Trump’s account or the offending tweets on the subject. The company’s statement comes after Timothy Klausutis,
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Netflix is bolstering its global entertainment formats team, hiring “The Circle” exec producer Daisy Lilley to work out of its London office, Variety has confirmed. Lilley has joined Netflix as a manager in its London-based operation, working closely with former ITV commissioner Ben Kelly. She reports in to Sean Hancock, Netflix’s U.S.-based director of unscripted
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Warner Music Group Corp. announced today that it has launched the initial public offering of 70,000,000 shares of its Class A common stock, pursuant to a registration statement on Form S-1 filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The initial public offering price is expected to be between $23.00 and $26.00 per share, which
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Universal Music Group today announced the launch of Def Jam Africa, a new label division within the continent. According to the announcement, the new label is dedicated to representing “the best hip-hop, Afrobeats and trap talent in Africa, and will follow the blueprint of the iconic Def Jam Recordings label,” one of the most important
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Darren Criss returns to original songs in the new Quibi series “Royalties.” Playing a songwriter for hire alongside Kether Donohue in the 10-episode comedy, the duo navigates the sometimes shameless world of jingles and pop songs. Criss co-wrote and executive-produced the series with longtime collaborators Nick and Matt Lang, fellow co-founders of YouTube sensation Team Starkid.
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The Panama Film Festival (IFF Panama), with support from the Inter-American Development Bank, is unspooling a five-day online festival, running May 22-26, which includes film screenings and round tables. Held on May 22, 23 and 24, three online round-tables – two moderated by festival director Pituka Ortega Heilbron and one by TIFF’s senior director, film,
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Agnieszka Zwiefka’s “Wika!” Angeliki Antoniou’s “Green Sea” and Wong Fei-pang’s “Dear Immigrants: What Was Your First Meal?” will all feature at the Marché du Film’s 2020 Goes to Cannes, one of the highest-profile industry events at the Cannes Film Market. This year’s Gors to Event runs June 22-23, at the beginning of the Marché du
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Distributor NENT Studios U.K., formerly DRG, has made its first drama acquisition since rebranding, picking up New Zealand fantasy action-adventure series “The Dead Lands.” NENT Studios U.K. acquired the rights to the eight-hour series from New Zealand producer GFC Films, which itself reclaimed the rights after the show’s former distributor Kew Media Distribution collapsed into
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Hannah Gadsby is the Michael Jordan of standup in one way — her stated plans to retire shouldn’t be taken seriously. “Nanette,” her performance that toured widely and was released on Netflix in 2018, was premised on the idea — not, seemingly, meant literally even in the moment — that Gadsby was walking away from
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