In today’s Global Bulletin, Russell Crowe and Nicole Kidman fill top spots at the Australian Academy, ITV Studios and Nippon team on a new co-development deal, Abacus Media Rights and Revelation Films announce “The Real Manhunter,” Anderson Entertainment and ITV team on expanding classic sci-fi brands, and the International Film Festival Mannheim-Heidelberg announces this year’s
Month: November 2020
Snapchat users, put on your thinking Snaps: The app company is launching its first program to pay creators for the most-viewed daily video posts, which will be showcased in a new TikTok-like feed. Snap is launching Snapchat Spotlight, which will show users a stream of publicly submitted posts surfaced based on personalized content algorithms. Snapchatters
Topic Studios and “The Climb” filmmakers Michael Angelo Covino and Kyle Marvin have wrapped production on their second collaboration, a pandemic-set comedy from filmmaker Daniel Antebi titled “God’s Time.” The new project comes as part of Covino and Marvin’s first-look deal with Topic Studios after working together on the Cannes-winning hit “The Climb,” which is
Lili Horvát’s “Preparations to Be Together for an Unknown Period of Time” has been selected as the official Hungarian entry for the international feature film category at the Academy Awards. The film had its world premiere as part of the Venice Days lineup, and premiered in North America at the Toronto Film Festival. It was
Scripted dramas drove U.K. TV exports to a record £1.48 billion ($1.97 billion) in 2019/20, a 6% year-on-year increase, according to a report from producers’ trade body Pact. Dramas like “Chernobyl,” “His Dark Materials,” “The War of the Worlds,” “The Feed” and “Doctor Who,” produced by U.K. companies, were the key export drivers and accounted
In a year when so many international film festivals have gone dark, it comes as no surprise that, as soon as the coronavirus pandemic took hold, IDFA’s annual public performance strand—IDFA on Stage—came very close to being canceled. Ironically, however, not only did it survive to see another day, this year’s selection is bigger and
On the heels of two momentous performances on Sunday’s American Music Awards and ahead of the arrival of a new Netflix documentary, singer/songwriter Shawn Mendes, along with his longtime manager Andrew Gertler, have announced their entry into original content with Permanent Content, a new film and television production company that will develop scripted and documentary
Heading into this year’s Guadalajara’s Co-Production Meetings, the team behind Michelle Garza’s maternal horror flick “Huesera” has shared with Variety news of a new minority co-producer, choreographer and key casting details. “Huesera” is produced by Paulina Villaviencio from Mexico’s Disruptiva Films and Edher Campos of Machete Producciones. Villaviencio’s recently produced Simon Hernández‘s 2019 Sitges Documenta
The Chilean director-producer team of Juan Cáceres, Alejandro Ugarte and Esteban Sandoval are back in Guadalajara, where their first feature “Perro Bomba” dominated the 2018 Guadalajara Construye works in progress section, scooping the Chemistry, Yagán, Mondragon-Disruptiva and Habanero awards, ensuring a strong post-production and aiding in the film’s highly successful international festival run. Variety can
Taking to the stage of the eerily quiet Tuschinski cinema in Amsterdam—just after the sad news of the death of Italian documentary filmmaker Valentina Pedicini, at the age of 42, had been made public—Gianfranco Rosi, Guest of Honor at documentary festival IDFA, put on a brave face as he settled down for his masterclass with
Simon Robson has been named president, international, recorded music for Warner Music Group. Overseeing the company’s operations outside the U.S. and U.K., he will be based in London and report to Max Lousada, Global CEO of Recorded Music, Warner Music Group. Robson has been with Warner for over two decades and has served as President
Topic, the U.S. streaming service from First Look Media, and Non-Stop Production, the Russian film studio behind Oscar nominated “Leviathan” and “Loveless,” will jointly produce “Frozen Land,” an eight-part limited series exploring the story of real-life Russian serial killer Dmitry Lebed, who terrorized a provincial Russian town from 2012 to 2017. It will be the
Nordic Entertainment Group (NENT) is putting its U.K. production and distribution business, NENT Studios U.K., on the block in order to focus on the growth strategy for streamer Viaplay. Richard Halliwell, NENT Studios U.K. CEO, is involved in the sale process, which currently has expressions of interest from more than 20 U.K. and international businesses,
Chile’s Storyboard Media and Cine Matriz are teaming with Colombia’s Romeo on documentary feature “Still Stares,” the debut feature of director Patricia Correa. Gabriela Sandoval and Carlos Núñez will executive produce for Storyboard Media, with Consuelo Castillo filling the role on behalf of her company Romeo. Storyboard’s latest doc “The Sky Is Red” is playing
Treasure hunt film, “Collectors” held on to top spot at another depressed Korean box office. The film earned $1.32 million with a 36% market share, ahead of U.S. film “Run,” which debuted in second place with $964,000. After nearly three weeks on release “Collectors” has passed the $10 million mark, finishing Sunday with $10.6 million,
War is blood and bombs and politics, but not in Alina Gorlova’s fascinating, fraught documentary “This Rain Will Never Stop.” Elliptically following 20-year-old Andriy Suleiman, a student Red Cross worker who “left one war for another” when his family fled Hasukah, Syria for his mother’s hometown of Lysychansk, Ukraine, this defiantly oblique, uncannily composed film
It seems unimaginable: a relationship driven more by affection than the dynamics of power between a Jewish prisoner and an Austrian SS officer at Auschwitz? But the taboo romance between beautiful, young Slovak inmate Helena Citron and her not-much-older captor Franz Wunsch is superbly documented in the fascinating “Love It Was Not” from Israeli helmer
Beleaguered Regal cinema chain operator Cineworld Group has found a lifeline by securing a new debt facility of $450 million and the issue of equity warrants. The company has agreed bank covenant waivers until June 2022 and has extended the maturity of its $111 million incremental revolving credit facility from Dec. 2020 to May 2024.
Hong Kong-produced “Caught in Time” gave fresh life to the mainland China box office over its opening weekend. The fantasy crime thriller about a cop chasing a gang through different eras earned $30.3 million. Produced by Emperor Motion Picture, the film stars the popular Daniel Wu and Wang Qianyuan, and was directed by Lau Ho-leung.
The American Music Awards gave three trophies apiece to Taylor Swift, The Weeknd and Dan + Shay in a show that proceeded along the lines of a typical annual AMAs telecast while acknowledging that the live audience for this pandemic edition consisted of a bare handful of masked, cheering fans in the Microsoft Theater’s balcony.
Taylor Swift won three American Music Awards Sunday night, including the top “favorite artist” honor — explaining her absence as due to being busy in the studio re-recording her entire Big Machine catalog. The climactic favorite artist award came as something as a surprise, since Swift’s name had not come up as a winner any
Exclusive Harvey Weinstein is getting the home movie treatment from behind bars — having cameras record his every move so he doesn’t go the way of Jeffrey Epstein … TMZ has learned. Law enforcement sources tell us … a correctional officer is assigned to follow Weinstein anytime he’s on the move from within the state
The Weeknd literally lit up Los Angeles with his American Music Awards performance, setting a new standard for the how-to-get-creative-with-social-distancing-during-an-awards show. Playing a pyro-loaded medley of “Your Eyes” and “Save Your Tears,” the performance started off with a solo from superstar saxist Kenny G — who performs on the song’s remix — before cutting to The
The 2020 American Music Awards aired on Sunday night from Los Angeles’ Microsoft Theater with host Taraji P. Henson. Taylor Swift, The Weeknd and Dan + Shay were the top winners with three apiece. As with all awards shows this season, the AMAs has had to adhere to COVID-19 guidelines by having a limited audience
John Belushi’s kinetic energy and skill at physical comedy made him a larger than life performer during his short run as a superstar on “Saturday Night Live” and in movies such as 1978’s “Animal House” and 1980’s “The Blues Brothers.” But Belushi’s work off-camera as a writer and director, from his earliest days in the
“Monty Python” actor John Cleese is being accused of transphobia following a series of tweets in which he defended “Harry Potter” author J.K. Rowling. In June, Rowling made headlines for stating that she believes one’s biological sex is their “real sex” and criticizing transgender people for “erasing the concept of sex.” In September, Cleese signed
“Aquaman” star Jason Momoa became a real superhero on Wednesday when he surprised 7-year-old fan Danny Sheehan with a video call. Sheehan, who has a rare form of brain cancer, went viral earlier in the week for his reaction to receiving an “Aquaman” figurine as a gift. “Oh my gosh, my favorite one,” the boy
In a nod to the exponentially growing interest in premium TV content and the swelling number of content-ravenous platforms, the Guadalajara Film Festival (FICG)’s industry section has launched a competitive television section dubbed Episode 0: Series in Development. Its participants will be given the opportunity to network and vie for prizes that consist of post-production
The casts of Fox Sports’ pregame shows, “Fox NFL Sunday” and “Fox NFL Kickoff” will not appear in Fox’s Los Angeles studios today due to concerns regarding COVID-19. Instead, Chris Myers will host both shows, with analysts Charles Woodson and Reggie Bush also in-studio. Regular “Fox NFL Sunday” cast members Curt Menefee, Terry Bradshaw, Michael
The Guadalajara Film Festival’s industry centerpiece, its Encuentro de Co-produccion, a springboard for Latin American feature film projects, unspools this week online, as directors and producers look to catch the eye of the international marketplace and secure key sales, distribution and production partners. Guadalajara has long rejected the idea that gender-based quotas are needed when
- « Previous Page
- 1
- …
- 11
- 12
- 13
- 14
- 15
- …
- 51
- Next Page »