Month: April 2021

“Agus and Monsters,” “Mironins” and  “The Triplets” feature among five projects to be highlighted by promotion board Catalan Films at a Partner Content Showcase on April 12 focusing on animation, a burgeoning TV asset in Catalonia. More details: “Mironins” (Cornelius Films, Walking the Dog BVBA, Wuji House, Peekaboo Animation) A transmedia project made up of seven-minute

At this year’s MipTV, The Wit hosted its first-ever presentation for a Fresh TV Lab, hosted by CEO and co-founder Virginia Mouseler and focused on Esports, podcasts and brands. “Esports is a growing entertainment option, not only for younger people but with a wider and wider audience. Of course, Esports is primarily about online gaming

Keshet is pitching ZDF and Viaplay’s upcoming domestic terrorism thriller “Fury” to international buyers at MipTV, and series creator Gjermund S. Eriksen (“Mammon”) discussed his latest creation with Variety remotely from Norway as the Cannes-based event kicked off. Co-produced by Monster Scripted (“Nobel,” “For Life”) and “Babylon Berlin” producers X Filme, the Norwegian-set episodes of

Chile’s BTF Media has unveiled its next project, “El Estallido,” a six-part docuseries telling the story of young psychology student Gustavo Villaroel, who lost both of his eyes after being shot twice with rubber bullets by the Chilean police while participating in the social uprising in Santiago in October 2019. In anticipation of pitching the

SPOILER ALERT: Do not read if you have not yet watched “Father Frank, Full of Grace,” the series finale of “Showtime,” available on-demand now. After 11 seasons of debauchery, drinking, and downright denial, “Shameless” and the Gallagher crew said farewell in the April 11 series finale, “Father Frank, Full of Grace” with an expected ending and

Hitting MipTV with a bang, Globo is unveiling a new Globoplay Original, “A Woman’s Fate,” which traces a clear through line with banner Globo titles from “Aruanas” to “A Mother’s Love.” Globo’s biggest new offering at MipTV, “A Woman’s Fate” also heads up Brazilian TV giant’s market slate which primes gender issues,  declaring emblazoned by

Partners on “The Red Band Society,” “I Know Who You Are” and “Welcome to the Family,” Barcelona-based studio Filmax and writer-director Pau Freixas are set to re-team on “The New Thirties,” a sci-fi laced comedy set on the idyllic Mediterranean island of Formentera. Penned by Eric Navarro and Natalia Durán, the writing duo behind recent

Jan Mojto’s Munich-based production-distribution company Beta Film has boarded Nordic suspense thriller “Helsinki Syndrome,” the first common project with Finland’s Fisher King since Beta took a majority stake in the leading Finnish production company in 2019. Coinciding with the Fisher King deal, Beta launched the Sweden-based Beta Nordic Studios (BNS), a umbrella hub grouping its

Latino-owned Fuse Media has marked its first foray into the global media marketplace on the eve of MipTV with licensing deals to language learning platform Lingopie and South Africa-based Telkom SA. “Today’s licensing agreements signify the early innings of Fuse Media’s global expansion,” said Fuse Media head of digital, Patrick Courtney, who added: “It is

The Oscar nominated Carey Mulligan was the “Saturday Night Live” host on the April 10 episode, but she didn’t do her opening monologue alone: her husband Marcus Mumford, of Mumford & Sons, joined her in Studio 8H (and eventually on stage) of the NBC late-night sketch comedy show. After talking about her time spent with

A day after the jury in the trial of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin heard testimony from a medical examiner and forensic pathologist, “Saturday Night Live” delivered a cold open sketch responding to the trial. Chauvin was not portrayed. Instead, Ego Nwodim, Kenan Thompson, Kate McKinnon and Alex Moffat played “Eye on Minnesota” news

“You can’t follow trends, you have to set them yourselves,” said Ziwe, actor, writer and star of the upcoming variety show “Ziwe.” Ziwe, along with Chelsea Devantez, London Hughes, Jana Schmieding and Rachel Sennott, gathered virtually at USC’s Women Creating Comedy panel, hosted by Shannon Hardy, to discuss carving their own paths and sexism in

After delivering the 12th Oakie Masters of Comedy Lecture virtually at USC School of Cinematic Arts, Bill Hader was honored with the Master of Comedy award, presented by the Jack Oakie & Victoria Horne Oakie Charitable Foundation. The honor, which has previously been shared by Judd Apatow, Lisa Kudrow, Steve Carell and more, is awarded

Nikki Grahame, star of “Big Brother” and “Princess Nikki,” died Friday morning. She was 38. The reality TV star’s death was confirmed to Variety by her agent, Freddy White. Her close friend Leon Dee first shared the news on a GoFundMe page set up to raise money for Grahame’s anorexia treatment. According to the GoFundMe,

A drive-in premiere of the new Amazon Prime horror anthology series “Them” was held Thursday night in the parking lot at the City of Compton Resource Center, and it paid tribute to the city of its setting in many ways. The Lena Waithe-produced show follows the Emorys, a middle-class Black family, who move into an

Variety took home 20 top honors at Friday’s National Arts and Entertainment Journalism Awards, including the wins for best entertainment website, podcast host, best headline and for music and theater criticism. The virtual ceremony was hosted by comedian Alonzo Bodden. This year’s Veritas Award for film from the Los Angeles Press Club went to Netflix’s

After 11 seasons of drinking, drugging, sex, and petty crime, it’s last call for “Shameless.” The Showtime series wraps up its run on April 11, ending the saga of the Gallaghers, a family of dreamers, strugglers, and grifters whose life on the margins provided so much memorable television. “Shameless” was also one of the rare