Month: December 2020

Simon Fuller is fully on board the 5G hype train: The British music impresario believes the next-gen wireless technology is a game-changer that will transform the way fans experience music and entertainment. Fuller, creator of “American Idol” and founder of XIX Entertainment, formed a partnership with Verizon to develop experimental new entertainment experiences using the
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Elliot Mintz is a veteran journalist, radio host and media consultant who became close friends with John Lennon and Yoko Ono in the 1970s. In the days after Lennon’s murder, 40 years ago on Dec. 8, he also unexpectedly found himself as the family’s media representative. While Mintz has interviewed everyone from Groucho Marx to
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Monthly, a fledgling Silicon Valley startup, has tapped celebrities and well-known creators in its bid to break into the e-learning space with its model of immersive, 30-day online classes. On Tuesday, Monthly (monthly.com) is launching a new batch of six classes, which include both video instruction and hands-on projects. Those are led by producer superstar
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iHeartMedia has renewed and extended its relationship with Charlamagne Tha God, co-host of New York’s Power 105’s nationally syndicated radio show “The Breakfast Club,” the company announced Tuesday. Under the new five-year agreement, Charlamagne will continue his trademark interview style on the radio show, which airs weekdays from 6-10 a.m. ET and is heard by
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The BBC, like most major media organizations in 2020, is betting big on digital, with new plans afoot to energize the growth of the U.K. public broadcaster’s primary digital hub and catch-up service, iPlayer. Chief content officer Charlotte Moore is restructuring the Beeb’s television division accordingly around a new iPlayer-focused strategy, which is coupled with
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Ben Sharrock’s “Limbo” was named the best film at the closing event Tuesday of the International Film Festival & Awards Macao. Japanese auteur Koreeda Hirokazu was bestowed with the festival’s Spirit of Cinema honorary award. The film follows a Syrian refugee in a remote Scottish island as he awaits his asylum application to be processed
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U.K. media regulator Ofcom has issued a stark warning to public service broadcasters (PSBs) BBC, ITV, STV, Channel 4, S4C and Channel 5, that unless they radically overhaul existing practices, they are in danger of losing further ground to streaming and online services. Ofcom’s “Small Screen: Big Debate,” the org’s ongoing review of U.K. public
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Canadian production house Frantic Films has scored several sales deals on factual series “High Maintenance” and “Killer In Plain Sight,” via deals brokered by U.K.-based distributor Abacus Media Rights. Hulu has taken U.S. rights to true crime series “Killer in Plain Sight,” originally commissioned by Investigation Discovery. The series has been sold to Crime +
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TrustNordisk has sold U.S. rights to “A Taste of Hunger,” an anticipated romantic drama starring Nikolaj Coster-Waldau (“Game of Thrones”) and Katrine Greis-Rosenthal (“A Fortunate Man”), to Magnolia Pictures. Directed by Christoffer Boe, “A Taste of Hunger” has also been acquired in a raft of territories, including Germany (Koch Films), Spain (Adso Films), Brazil (Synapse)
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The Independent Cinema Alliance has expressed disappointment over Warner Bros.’ decision to release the rest of its 2021 film state simultaneously in theaters and on HBO Max. In a statement released Monday, the volunteer alliance called for a return to theatrical exclusivity, writing that releasing movies solely in theaters for a period of time is
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Mark O’Brien, a longtime syndication sales executive for Warner Bros. and founder of Mighty Oak Entertainment, has died. He was 63. O’Brien died Nov. 9 at his home in Newport Beach, Calif., after battling health problems. For the past 15 years, O’Brien headed Mighty Oak Entertainment, a production and distribution company that produced comedy and
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A federal judge in Washington, D.C., granted an injunction on Monday that will block the Trump administration from shutting down TikTok. There are now two injunctions preventing the administration from disabling the popular short-form video service. A judge in Philadelphia ordered a similar injunction on Oct. 30, in response to a suit brought by three
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Christopher Nolan, who has supplied Warner Bros. with multiple blockbusters, has expressed deep dissatisfaction with the studio’s decision to release its entire 2021 theatrical slate simultaneously on the HBO Max streaming service “There’s such controversy around it, because they didn’t tell anyone,” said Nolan in an ET Online interview released Monday. “It’s very, very, very,
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In today’s TV news roundup, Hallmark Channel released its January programming slate, and the National Hispanic Media Coalition announced the graduates of its 2020 Series Scriptwriters Program. DATES Hallmark Channel’s newly rebranded January programming event, “New Year New Movies!,” announced five movie premieres: “Taking a Shot at Love,” “A New Year’s Resolution,” “Two for the Win,” “Love in
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Music production has proven to be somewhat pandemic-proof as artists continue to create during the COVID crisis. While collaboration poses certain challenges, producers, engineers, mixers and beat-makers have been able work from home for the most part, either in isolation or compact pods. That’s kept the business moving and revenue streams flowing. Representing hit producers
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