Month: June 2021

Multihphenate Castille Landon added writing and directing to her resume after she couldn’t find “roles that I loved and I was getting cast in a bunch of indie things that never got the financing altogether. It’s hard enough trying to get cast in something, but then when it falls through, it’s heartbreaking,” she says. She wrote and directed family drama
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All products and services featured by Variety are independently selected by Variety editors. However, Variety may receive a commission on orders placed through its retail links, and the retailer may receive certain auditable data for accounting purposes. The world is turning the volume up. From concerts and festivals to clubs and sports events, you’re likely
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“Brighton 4th” tells a gentle, naturalistic story of parental devotion and sacrifice, unfolding mostly in the former Soviet émigré enclave of Brighton Beach, N.Y. The tragicomedy nabbed a trifecta of awards at the recent Tribeca Festival, including best international narrative feature, screenplay and actor. It marks the third fiction outing by Georgian helmer Levan Koguashvili
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Entertainment One is expanding its leadership team, bringing on board Gabriel Marano as an executive vice president of scripted television, where he will oversee the development of all of the company’s Hasbro IP. Concurrently, Jacqueline Sacerio, eOne’s current exec VP of scripted TV, will expand her responsibilities and shepherd the company’s first-look ad pod deals.
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John McAfee, the creator of the antivirus software company bearing his name, was found dead in his prison cell near Barcelona, Spain, according to multiple outlets. He was 75. According to the Associated Press, authorities are investigating the cause of death. His lawyer, however, told Reuters that McAfee died by suicide. A statement from the regional Catalan government
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Monoduo Films, the leading distributor of feature-length music documentaries, has acquired world sales rights to “Faith and Branko,” an intimate story that chronicles the relationship between two musicians over the course of seven years. The deal was announced on the eve of the Thessaloniki Documentary Festival, where the film screens in the Agora Doc Market.
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In a nearly three-hour presentation Wednesday morning, Pershing Square Capital founder Bill Ackman made his love for the music business — and the reasons for setting his sights on Universal Music Group — clear, saying, “I can’t think of an asset I’m more confident in being consumed over time. … You need food and water
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ViacomCBS has shuffled seven top content executives in a new leadership structure designed to bolster its streaming service Paramount Plus. Teased recently by ViacomCBS Streaming president and CEO Tom Ryan, the new structure is intended to bolster original programming and help Paramount Plus achieve scale in a crowded market. Executives George Cheeks, Jim Gianopulos, Bruce
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SPOILER WARNING: Do not read if you haven’t seen Season 1, Episode 3 of “Loki,” streaming now on Disney Plus. Marvel Studios has its first official LGBTQIA+ superhero — or, depending on your point of view, supervillain. On the latest episode of the Disney Plus series “Loki,” Tom Hiddleston’s titular god of mischief confirms what had
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Supporting the U.K. animation industry is one of the key priorities for the recently launched £7 million ($9.77 million) U.K. Global Screen Fund (UKGSF), which is being administered by the British Film Institute. Each of the three key funding strands of the UKGSF – international business development, co-production investment, and international distribution (see separate story
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Almost a year after NBCUniversal launched Peacock nationwide, the streaming service is finally coming to Amazon’s Fire TV set-tops and Fire tablets. Under an agreement between NBCU and Amazon, Peacock will launch on the Amazon devices in the U.S. starting Thursday, June 24. In addition, the two companies reached a distribution agreement for NBCU’s 15
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LeVar Burton, actor, director and famed host of “Reading Rainbow,” has launched an online course sharing his approach to storytelling — and how to effectively connect with other people. Burton’s internet course, “The Power of Storytelling,” is available on MasterClass, as part of the site’s $180 annual membership. Comprising 13 individual video lessons, the class
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From “Pokémon Detective Pikachu,” which pulled in $433 million globally in 2019, to “Sonic the Hedgehog,” which grossed $319.7 million worldwide last year before the pandemic shut down theaters, the message is clear: Gamers and nongamers alike are looking to explore their favorite video game characters and narratives in different mediums. Gaming developers are getting
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