Month: May 2020

Although their impending residential acquisition has been widely rumored for months, it’s only now that property records reveal music superstars Gwen Stefani and Blake Shelton have finally closed on their very first house together: a $13.2 million estate in the prime foothills of Encino, out in L.A.’s increasingly desirable San Fernando Valley. The stealthy deal went down
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Music Cities Together, a joint initiative between Washington D.C.-based Music Policy Forum (Michael Bracy) and Austin-based Sound Music Cities (Don Pitts) committed to helping local officials in cities across America improve their music ecosystems, is  stepping up efforts to save music venues and clubs nationwide. Portland, Seattle (King County), New Orleans, Cleveland, Los Angeles, Austin,
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Film and TV production in the Czech Republic, one of the world’s leading destinations for international shoots, is to resume immediately after the government lifted restrictions on public gatherings, imposed as part of the fight against COVID-19. Among the international productions that will be able to resume their shoots are season two of Legendary Entertainment/Amazon’s
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Alamo Drafthouse, the cinema chain that largely popularized in-theater dining, is launching a video-on-demand platform called Alamo on Demand. Alamo On Demand, which was created in partnership with ScreenPlus and Vista Cinema, will allow the theater chain to extend services beyond its 41 locations in the U.S. Moreover, it provides a revenue stream while theaters
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Film production incentives have been a success story for the Eastern European territories that have been late to embrace the rebates but are catching up fast. And, despite interruptions caused by the COVID-19 crisis, industry officials and filmmakers remain upbeat. In Romania, where major player Castel Film Studio cancelled four international productions while under temporarily
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While its streaming numbers were strong, Warner Music’s earnings took a hit during the second fiscal quarter of 2020 as the coronavirus pandemic wreaked havoc on the economy. The company has placed its IPO, announced earlier this year, on hold for the time being, although plans remain active. Streaming revenues were up 11% to $586
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Elle Fanning has spent most of her 12-year career making movies. Now, at 22, she’s jumping into television, starring as Catherine the Great in Hulu’s 10-part satirical comedy series “The Great,” which debuts on May 15. Written by “The Favourite” scribe Tony McNamara, the show follows Catherine’s rise to power, from her arranged marriage to
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ViacomCBS said first-quarter profit tumbled as the company suffered a 19% decline in advertising revenue due in part to the cancellation of the NCAA “March Madness” men’s basketball championship this year. The New York owner of the CBS television network, MTV and the Paramount movie studio said overall revenue fell 6%, to nearly $6.67 billion,
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Colombia’s entertainment industry is up in arms over a government decree which has reduced the 70% national production quota for primetime TV to 20% due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Its beleaguered producers, actors, screenwriters, crew members and ancillary services will face even greater challenges if demand for homegrown productions begin to fall. Independent producers org
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In a guest article written for Variety, Christine Eloy, managing director of Europa Distribution, which represents indie distributors across Europe, appeals for assistance for the sector as its survival is threatened by the impact of COVID-19, and underscores its critical importance to the independent film business as a whole. The long, unprecedented crisis we are
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MADRID —  Fulfilling predictions, John Malone’s cable company Liberty Global and Spain-based Telefonica have created a 50-50 joint venture, merging Liberty Global’s broadband network Virgin Media and Telefonica’s mobile platform O2, Telefonica and Liberty Global announced Thursday. The merger creates the leading fixed-mobile provider in one of the biggest telecoms market in Europe, with O2
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Amazon Prime Video has taken the exclusive rights to drama series “Little Fires Everywhere,” executive produced and starring Reese Witherspoon and Kerry Washington, in Europe, Latin America, Canada and Australia, where it will launch on May 22. Based on Celeste Ng’s 2017 bestseller, “Little Fires Everywhere” follows the intertwined fates of the picture-perfect Richardson family
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“Death Stranding” swept the Game Audio Network Guild (G.A.N.G.) Awards, including winning the top prize of audio of the year. For the first time, the G.A.N.G. Awards were streamed live on Twitch.tv and featured a pre- and post-show on Wednesday night. A genre-defying action experience by Kojima Productions, “Death Stranding” also won sound design of
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In today’s film news roundup, Benedict Cumberbatch’s spy drama “The Courier” and supernatural thriller “Star Light” get release dates, and the Quarantine Cat Film Fest is unveiled. RELEASE DATE Lionsgate and sister company Roadside Attractions have set an Aug. 28 theatrical release for the spy drama “The Courier,” starring Benedict Cumberbatch. The film, formerly titled “Ironbark,”
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Sky Studios has taken a minority stake in new drama producer Longboat Pictures, founded by “Bridgerton” director Julie Anne Robinson and former ITV executive Victoria Fea. The outfit was founded in 2019 by Los Angeles-based director-producer Robinson and ex-ITV commissioner Fea. The deal marks the latest investment for Sky Studios, which recently took a minority
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