Month: February 2021

U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s hopes of entertainment venues benefiting from rapid testing when the country begins to reopen after coronavirus lockdown is not practical, at least for cinemas, says U.K. Cinema Association chief executive Phil Clapp. On Monday, during a coronavirus briefing, Johnson had suggested the rapid lateral flow tests, in combination with the
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In celebration of the 20th anniversary of the Stax Music Academy, Concord — which owns the legendary soul label Stax Records — has announced the Concord Stax Scholarships, which will provide full tuition to at least 20 students in each year over the next five school years. According to the announcement, Concord has pledged “a minimum of $1 million through donations from its
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Warner Music Group has announced an investment in the Arab world’s largest independent record label, Rotana Music, which is part of Rotana Group, widely considered the largest entertainment company in the region. According to the announcement, “the deal will expand WMG’s presence in the rapidly growing Middle East and North African region, while driving cross-cultural
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“Mother Tongue,” a suspense thriller directed by two-time Academy Award nominee Mike Figgis (“Leaving Las Vegas,” “Internal Affairs”) starts shooting in Hong Kong this week. It stars and is produced by actor-singer-producer Josie Ho (“Contagion,” “Lucky Day”). Figgis and Ho will hold a start-of production ceremony Wednesday at Hong Kong’s Shaw Studios. Production is expected
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The African American Film Critics Association (AAFCA) has selected Mariah Carey, George C. Wolfe, Stacey Abrams’s “All In” and Netflix as its special achievement award honorees for the 12th annual AAFCA Awards. Carey will receive the Innovator Award, while Wolfe earns the Salute to Excellence. Netflix is the Cinema Vanguard recipient, while the Stanley Kramer
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“Calamity Jane,” Rémi Chayé’s critically acclaimed animated feature vying for an Oscar nomination, is set to roll out on The Animation Showcase, a streaming service dedicated to the industry. The hand-drawn “Calamity Jane,” which marks Chayé’s follow up to “Long Way North,” will be the first animated feature film to be available worldwide on the
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Ryan Murphy will be honored for his body of work at the 25th Annual Art Directors Guild Awards in April. The writer, director and producer of TV shows and movies include “Hollywood,” “Pose,” “The Politician,” “The Prom,” “Glee,” “American Horror Story,” “The Boys in the Band” and most recently “9-1-1,” will receive the Cinematic Imagery
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Cinemas in Hong Kong are set to reopen on Thursday after a hiatus caused by the city’s fourth wave of the COVID-19 outbreak. As the number of infections has dropped to only single figure daily increases, the government announced on Tuesday permission to reopen previously shuttered public places including cinemas and theme parks. Theme parks
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ViacomCBS International Studios (VIS) has boarded Amazon Prime Video and RTVE’s resurrection of Chicho Ibáñez Serrador’s legendary Spanish horror series “Historias Para No Dormir,” (“Stories to Stay Awake”), which started filming this week in Madrid. Set as a four-part anthology miniseries, “Historias Para No Dormir” boasts a superstar cast and crew on either side of
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San Sebastian’s Tabakalera, a former tobacco factory repurposed as a hub of cultural activity for the Basque region with close ties to the city’s film festival, has launched the 2deo Serieak, an ambitious, international program developed to tutor, guide and support projects from TV series creators, producers and scriptwriters. The new initiative is backed by
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Director Robert Connolly (“Balibo”) and star Eric Bana (“Hanna,” “Hulk), both currently riding high at the Australian box office with “The Dry,” will reunite on “Blueback,” a film billed as a family-friendly, ecologically activist celebration of the natural world. Connolly has been developing the project for more than two decades. At one stage it was
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Johnny Pacheco, the Dominican Republic-born flautist-turned-bandleader and the co-founder of the influential Fania Records, the label that brought salsa to the global mainstream, died on Feb.15 in Teaneck, New Jersey. He was 85. A cause of death has yet to be revealed; Billboard, citing sources, reports that Pacheco had “been hospitalized for complications stemming from
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“Sex Education” star Simone Ashley is heading to Regency Era London for her next role. Netflix has confirmed to Variety that Ashley has been cast in the second season of the hit Shondaland series “Bridgerton.” She will star opposite Jonathan Bailey’s Anthony Bridgerton as his romantic interest, Kate Sharma. Kate is a smart, independent woman who is
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Variety has been nominated for 99 National Art and Entertainment Journalism awards, a record-breaking number of nominations for the publication. “This is an amazing achievement by our stellar team of journalists, accomplished during the most challenging year any of us have ever experienced,” said Claudia Eller, editor-in-chief of Variety. Variety was nominated for print entertainment
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CJ ENM, the Korean entertainment group behind last year’s “Parasite,” is to build its first real time virtual production studio, having struck a deal with Epic Games, maker of “Fortnite,” to develop virtual production. The arrangement means using Epic’s ‘Unreal Engine’ game engine technology in CJ ENM’s potential future projects. The studio will be located
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Nahnatchka Khan grew up watching wrestling legends like “The Iron Sheik” with her Iranian immigrant family on Saturday nights in the 1980s. Fast-forward to now, and the showrunner of NBC’s “Young Rock” is hoping you’ll sit down with your family and watch her adaptation of Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson’s life on Tuesday nights. Khan is
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Ari Gold, the trailblazing LGBTQ artist who sang backing vocals for Diana Ross and Cyndi Lauper, has died of leukemia, World of Wonder Productions confirmed to Variety. He was 47. World of Wonder, the production company behind “RuPaul’s Drag Race,” worked closely with Gold on his collaborations with RuPaul. “Ari was a queer trailblazer whose
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Jamie Dornan is happy to get silly, even showing up for an interview sporting a bikini t-shirt, swag from his new film. The film in question is “Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar,” Kristen Wiig and Annie Mumolo’s follow-up to their 2011’s Oscar-nominated screenplay for “Bridesmaids.” A bright, joyous ode to female friendships,
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