Nick Panella has been named the leader of a new podcast and audio group at Agency for the Performing Arts, Variety can report exclusively. Panella joins the company from Workhouse Media, where he worked extensively with names like Shonda Rhimes, Ellen DeGeneres, “Modern Family” co-creator Chris Lloyd and Oprah Winfrey. Announced by APA’s head of
Month: March 2023
Kiss have announced the “absolute final shows of their final tour,” a North American leg that kicks off in October and closes with two back-to-back nights at New York City’s Madison Square Garden on Dec. 1 and 2. These dates are pegged to the band’s “End of the Road Tour,” which started in 2018 and
Following the success of their years-long partnership that spawned seven original films including Natalie Morales’ “Plan B” and “Crush,” Hulu Originals has renewed its first look deal with comedy production company American High. Jason Zaro (“Brigsby Bear”) will serve as co-producer across the new slate of films for Hulu. The renewed partnership comes on the
Netflix has picked up a new comedy series starring Kristen Bell from writer Erin Foster and executive producer Steven Levitan, Variety has learned. The untitled series is said to center on “the unlikely relationship between an irreverent, outspoken, agnostic woman (Bell) and an unconventional rabbi.” Foster created the series and serves as an executive producer.
Up against a ticking clock, Kym Whitley had to make a quick decision of whether she would join Alyson Fouse’s latest sitcom “Act Your Age.” She was on the fence as the final cast member to round out the trio — that is, until she received a call from her soon-to-be castmates and longtime friends
The upcoming “Frasier” revival at Paramount+ is bringing back Bebe Neuwirth as Dr. Lilith Sternin in a guest star role. Neuwirth will reunite with her onscreen husband Kelsey Grammer, who is leading the revival once again as Dr. Frasier Crane. The two originated the characters on the hit sitcom “Cheers,” with Neuwirth first appearing on
In celebration of International Women’s Day on March 8, Variety once again highlights accomplishments by global women of show business. From starring in some of this past year’s most impressive films and television series to executing major deals and expanding content coverage, “impactful” doesn’t even begin to capture their contribution to international entertainment.
Corporate synergy! Crunchyroll, the global anime streaming service owned by Sony, is now just a button press away for owners of Sony’s 2023 Bravia lineup of HDTVs. Crunchyroll, which has more than 10 million paid subscribers, provides more than 18,000 hours of anime content comprising more than 44,000 episodes and feature films. In addition to
Audible announced that Grammy-winning artists Sara Bareilles and Kelly Rowland have signed on to judge “Breakthrough,” billed as the first singing competition series launch exclusively as a podcast. Bareilles and Rowland will mentor and guide the performances as well as the artistic development of five artists through a season of musical challenges. The series is
Italy’s 2,500 dubbing industry workers are on a protracted strike demanding higher wages, less frenzied work conditions, and protection against digital dubbing devices, which they claim threaten their jobs. The country’s unions representing Italian voice actors and dubbing directors have been on the war path since Feb. 21. On Tuesday they announced the strike will
Last year, 144 documentary features were eligible for an Academy Award, but in reality, less than a third of those docs had a chance of making the 15-film shortlist. That, in part, is because garnering a spot on that competitive list requires not only a beautifully crafted film constructed by a talented director and crew,
“Woman. Life. Freedom.” “Zan. Zindagi. Azadi.” These words have been chanted around the world for months in support of Iranian women who are demanding freedom of expression and an end to the country’s oppressive rules for women. This inspiring female-led movement was sparked by the death of Jina “Mahsa” Amini, a 22-year-old Iranian Kurdish woman
Brendan Fraser revealed on a recent episode of “The Kelly Clarkson Show” that he had a near-death experience during a stunt gone wrong while filming “The Mummy.” The Oscar nominee said he was “chocked out accidentally” during a scene in which he had to be hanged with a rope. “I was standing on my toes
Jordyn Woods is riding with Selena Gomez in a feud that really has nothing to do with her — well, except for the fact it’s Selena vs. Jordyn’s ex-BFF, Kylie Jenner and Hailey Bieber. Jordyn didn’t exactly make a declaration of war, but she did the next best thing when she showed off a lip
TikTok, in an effort to show it’s being a good internet citizen, introduced new features to cap the time kids spend on the video app. In the next few weeks, every TikTok account belonging to a user under the age of 18 will automatically be set to a 60-minute daily screen time limit. If the
For 25 years, I have never been much of a Guy Ritchie fan. I found the in-your-face-and-over-the-top crime dramas that made his reputation — “Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels,” “Snatch,” “Revolver,” and “RocknRolla” — to be empty-flashy exercises in the too-muchness of genre kinetics, overly infatuated with their post-Tarantino cutthroat cool. It was clear that
Netflix’s upcoming documentary “Money Shot” tells the story of one of the world’s most-visited websites — Pornhub. Featuring interviews with sex workers, activists and ex-employees of the porn giant, the film, premiering March 15, “offers a deep dive into the successes and scandals of Pornhub,” per Netflix. More specifically, “Money Shot” chronicles how Pornhub fundamentally
When he began working on his sophomore documentary feature, “Iron Butterflies,” in 2019, Ukrainian filmmaker Roman Liubyi said he was “making the film as a warning, before the Third World War.” The film, which world premiered at Sundance, follows the Russian disinformation campaign surrounding the downing of Malaysian Airlines flight MH17 in Ukraine in 2014,
A film of Coldplay’s sold-out 10-night concert run at Buenos Aires’ River Plate stadium in 2022 will get a worldwide release in April from Trafalgar Releasing. The concert was part of the band’s “Music Of The Spheres” world tour, which sold more than six million tickets. The film, “Coldplay – Music Of The Spheres: Live
Neal Mohan posted his first open letter to creators as YouTube’s new boss, coming after CEO Susan Wojcicki stepped down last month. Mohan, previously the video platform’s chief product officer, detailed new features and tools coming in 2023 and beyond. “Creators and artists are the heart of YouTube, and I’ll continue to put them first,”
Chris Pine is finally ready to talk about one of the biggest debates from 2022: Did Harry Styles spit on him during the world premiere of “Don’t Worry Darling” at the Venice Film Festival? It’s a question that Pine’s representative immediately shot down at the time, saying in a statement: “This is a ridiculous story
In Jan Baumgartner’s first feature, “The DNA of Dignity,” which plays in the Newcomers Competition at the Thessaloniki Intl. Documentary Festival, the Swiss nurse-turned-filmmaker follows a team of forensic scientists who, in the anonymity of mass graves, are looking for the last usable traces of human DNA in the hope of giving the victims their
In celebration of International Women’s Day on March 8, Latto, Gloria Estefan and Lainey Wilson will be the featured artists for iHeartMedia and SeeHer’s third annual “iHeartRadio SeeHer Hear Her: Celebrating Women Who Make Music and Culture,” a celebration of women who make music and influence change and culture. The event will highlight successful and influential
Hoda Kotb’s days-long absence from her duties at NBC’s “Today” was explained Wednesday morning: She is dealing with a “family health matter.” Craig Melvin,. Sheinelle Jones and Al Roker, who were on set during Wednesday’s broadcast, didn’t offer additional details, but Melvin said the “Today” co-anchor had been out for several days due to the
“Stranger Things” is coming to London’s West End. Netflix announced on Tuesday that “Stranger Things: The First Shadow,” a stage play spinoff of the wildly popular series, will world premiere at the Phoenix Theatre later this year. The play, which is “rooted in the mythology” of the Netflix show, was written by “Stranger Things” writer
“Doctor Who” showrunner Russell T Davies is set to exec produce a new BBC drama about the first trials for Viagra. Produced by Quay Street Productions and Boom, “Men Up” tells the story about a trial for the sex drug that took place in Wales in 1994. “Industry” scribe Matthew Barry is writing the
Khaby Lame, the Senegalese-born Italian social media personality who is the world’s most followed content creator on TikTok, has joined “Italia’s Got Talent” as a juror. Lame is a former former factory worker in Italy who after being laid off from his job in March 2020 launched a TikTok channel in which he performed absurdly comic
Ed Sheeran announced his fifth studio album, “-,” will drop May 5, detailing his personal journey through “fear, depression and anxiety.” Pronounced “subtract,” the acoustic album will conclude his mathematical album era, which began over a decade ago with “+.” The album was produced and written with Aaron Dessner of the National and follows his
Indian cinema legend Amitabh Bachchan will headline Ribhu Dasgupta’s courtroom drama thriller “Section 84.” The film is produced by Reliance Entertainment, Film Hangar and Saraswati Entertainment in association with Jio Studios. This film will mark Bachchan and Dasgupta’s third collaboration after the critical success of Sony Entertainment Television India’s 2014 miniseries “Yudh” and 2016 film
Boston-based sales agent 34T has picked up international sales rights to Spanish writer-director Ana Ortiz’s feature debut, psychological thriller “El claro de las luciérnagas” (“Firefly Glades”). Produced by Sergy Moreno at Madrid’s White Leaf Producciones, the film is structured as a Spanish regional co-production, teaming with Magnética Cine’s María Barroso in Andalusia and Joaquín Calderón