Month: October 2020

Endeavor Content has set a three-film development deal with producer Heather Rae, committing to movie scripts from Indigenous filmmakers. The new pact was announced on Oct. 12, Indigenous Peoples’ Day. Along with Rae, Crystal EchoHawk of IllumiNative and Bird Runningwater of Sundance Institute are advising on the projects. Research from IllumiNative — a woman-led racial
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By her own admission, Christine Vachon is not a nostalgic person. This would normally make a conversation about the 25th anniversary of her pioneering independent film company Killer Films a challenge but, luckily, recent events have changed her perspective. Vachon attended September’s Venice Intl. Film Festival, for which she served as a juror, an event
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New series “Lafayette” will be presented this week at the Mercato Internazionale Audiovisivo (MIA), the film and TV market taking place in Rome. Variety spoke to the show’s producer Nicolas Deprost, CEO of the French production outfit Wild Horses, and writer, Oscar winner David Franzoni (“Gladiator”), ahead of the market. “Lafayette” kicks off in the
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This page will be continually updated as we learn more information about Amazon Prime Day 2020. Amazon Prime Day 2020 is officially happening tomorrow. The retailer announced on its site that the two-day event is happening from October 13 through 14 this year. The annual sale is exclusive to Prime members and is jam-packed with
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The Entertainment Industry Foundation (EIF) has relaunched its disaster relief program under the name of Defy:Disaster, which will introduce Lend a Hand, its first campaign since the rebranding. Lend a Hand aims to support California’s firefighters amid a record-breaking wildfire season. Defy:Disaster, which previously operated under the name of Music for Relief since 2018, seeks to provide aid to communities affected
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An unusual trend in recent years has seen New York City’s subway stations transformed into memorials for late, great musicians, both officially and unofficially. In the former category, Spotify transformed the Union Square and Broadway-Lafayette stations into elaborate memorials for Prince and David Bowie, respectively; unofficially, the Franklin Avenue station in Brooklyn was briefly turned
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Michael B. Jordan’s award-winning films “Just Mercy,” and “Fruitvale Station” will serve as opening night screenings for the inaugural Social Justice Now Film Festival (SJNFF). Both films will play on Wednesday, Oct. 21st at Paramount’s Drive-In Theater, sponsored by Amazon Studios. Jordan serves as a co-ambassador for the film festival, which runs Oct. 21-25, alongside
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Common is bringing an interview series featuring “intimate, candid and soulful conversations” with six artists and activists to Audible next month. The award-winning actor, music artist, activist and author hosts “Mind Power Mixtape,” in which he engages in discussions with his guests about spirituality, self-care, music, inspiration and overcoming obstacles. Confirmed guests for Common’s new
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Facebook, finally enacting a measure long called on by critics, said it will prohibit any content that “denies or distorts the Holocaust.” Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, in a post Monday announcing the policy change, said he has “struggled with the tension between standing for free expression and the harm caused by minimizing or denying the
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Arthouse platform Kabinett has snagged Argentine filmmaker Alejandro Fadel’s first purely experimental film, “The Enigmatic Element,” available since Oct. 10. The genre is not quite a novelty to Fadel who is best known for his first two fiction films, “Los Salvajes” and “Murder Me, Monster,” both of which had their world premieres in Cannes. “While they
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HanWay Films is handling international sales, distribution and marketing for multi-Grammy Award nominee and pop superstar Sia’s feature directorial debut “Music,” starring Oscar nominee and Golden Globe winner Kate Hudson (“Almost Famous,” “Deepwater Horizon”). The film also stars Tony and Grammy Award winner Leslie Odom Jr. (“Hamilton,” “One Night in Miami”), alongside Sia protégé and
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Republic Records has promoted Amaiya Davis to vice president of media/cultural impact & engagement, it was announced today by the company’s executive vice president of media & artist relations, Joseph Carozza. She is based at the label’s New York headquarters. Davis will continue to spearhead publicity campaigns for a diverse roster of artists, including City Morgue, Duckwrth, Kash Doll, Kiana
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Boo: Keegan-Michael Key wants to haunt your dreams in a new 13-part horror anthology podcast series from Blumhouse Television, iHeartMedia and horror podcaster Aaron Mahnke. In “Aaron Mahnke’s 13 Days of Halloween,” Key voices the “caretaker” of purgatorial hotel Hawthorne Manor, in which listeners play the role of the hotel’s latest guest… putting them at
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Breaking Glass Pictures has picked up North American distribution rights to Chilean producer Omar Zuñiga’s directorial feature debut, “The Strong Ones” (“Los Fuertes”). Meikincine Entertainment handled the sale. Winner of the Grand Jury Prize for Best International Narrative Feature and the Audience Award at OutFest LA as well as Best Narrative Film at Florida’s OutShine Film Festival,
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Sometimes IP is a bonus when selling a show, and sometimes it’s more crucial. Two key properties coming to Mipcom from ViacomCBS Global Distribution Group this year are new iterations of beloved stories: Josh Boone and Benjamin Cavell’s nine-part adaptation of Stephen King’s 1978 post-apocalyptic tome “The Stand,” and Anna Fricke’s “reimagining” of the 1990s
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Nicole Kidman is unparalleled in the art of playing a woman who’s equal parts flinty determination and distraught pain. When her face falls in shock, her character is likely to fight the instinct to fall apart, instead steeling herself for whatever’s yet to come. It’s a balancing act that found a particularly remarkable showing on
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In today’s Global Bulletin, All3Media lands “All Creatures Great and Small” in several major territories, Limonero Films strikes a deal with Disney on two factual series, HBO Max picks up two Blue Ant International series, “Les Misérables -The Staged Concert” returns to London for the holidays and Gobstopper launches new sister company Flying Saucer TV.
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Dreamville Records has announced the formation of Dreamville Ventures, a multi-disciplinary media company, and Dreamville Studios, a content studio that will produce original and co-produced content. Coming aboard to lead the new division is Damien Scott, president of Dreamville, and Candace Rodney, who serves as Dreamville executive vice president and president of Dreamville Studios. J. Cole,
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Pulsar Content has closed multiple pre-sales on Arseny Sukhin’s science-fiction horror movie “Superdeep” in the run up to its world premiere at Sitgès. Inspired by true events, the movie stars Milena Radulivic (“The Balkan Line”) and Nikita Duvbanov, and is set in 1984, when inexplicable screams were recorded in Kola Superdeep Borehole, the biggest secret
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Christian Vesper has been promoted to president of global drama at Fremantle, the production and distribution powerhouse behind hit dramas such as Luca Guadagnino’s “We Are Who We Are,” “American Gods,” and the BBC’s “The Salisbury Poisonings.”  Vesper takes on this new role following the departure of Sarah Doole, the former London-based director of global drama,
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