Month: December 2023

The direct-to-consumer SVOD model which is undergoing uncertain times was the subject of a presentation by Tony Gunnarsson, senior principal analyst, OTT video, media and entertainment at Omdia. Gunnarsson was speaking at Singapore’s Asia TV Forum and Market. The number of pay-TV subscribers remains above one billion and is likely to remain so for the
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Webtoons, the vertical-scrolling iteration of digital comics that emerged some twenty years ago in Korea, along with the smartphone, are now a global medium. But they are only at the beginning of their global journey, says Charlie Park, CEO of Kakao Entertainment-owned Tapas. Park was speaking Tuesday at the Asia Television Forum in Singapore in
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For the producers of an international co-production about Palestinian refugees in Athens the Hamas attack on Israel Oct. 7 and subsequent bombardment and invasion of Gaza by Israeli forces looked as if it might derail the project. But although the conflict that has claimed the lives of more than 1,200 Israelis and over 15,500 Palestinian
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We’ve had genies of the playful, wish-granting “Thief of Baghdad” type, and more recently quite a number of evil djinn in horror movies. But it’s hard to recall a prior screen portrait of the same malleable Arabic mythological creatures quite like “HWJN,” which takes the cuddlesome, anthropomorphic “They’re just like us, only magical!” view of
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Arlene Nelson will direct a documentary series on Indian Women’s Premier League cricket team U.P. Warriorz, it was revealed on the sidelines of the Asian TV Forum and Market (ATF). The men’s Indian Premier League (IPL) is one of the most lucrative properties in world sport. In June 2022, Viacom18, a TV and streaming group backed
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Singapore’s Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) is teaming with AI Singapore and the Agency for Science, Technology and Research to launch the S$70 million ($52.3 million) National Multimodal LLM Program (NMLP). The initiative, funded by Singapore’s National Research Foundation, will develop the country’s research and engineering capabilities in multi-modal large language (LLM) models. It will
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Jamie Foxx made a surprise appearance at the Critics Choice Association‘s Celebration of Cinema and Television: Honoring Black, Latino and AAPI Achievements on Monday night, taking the stage for his first public outing following his sudden hospitalization in April. Foxx was honored with the Vanguard Award for his acclaimed performance in “The Burial,” from Amazon’s
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Dick Clark Productions is expanding its talent division with two new appointments. Sara Kantathavorn is joining the company as senior vice president, talent strategy and Jeremy Lowe has been promoted to vice president, talent and partnerships. Lowe and Kantathavorn will work closely together in their new roles.   “Sara’s experience leading talent teams and strategy
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It’s hard to quite think of someone who was as big a veritable child star as Brenda Lee was in the late ’50s and early ’60s a “late bloomer.” Nor can “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree” really be considered an underdog song, after its accrual of quintuple-platinum sales over the decades. And yet it’s spent
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SHIFTING SANDS Macau casino operator, Sands China entered into a strategic partnership with Chinese streaming company Tencent Video and Chinese cinema ticketing firm Maoyan Entertainment. The three parties will team up to host large-scale offline events, content creation of lifestyle and entertainment programs and online marketing and promotion. Operating The Venetian Macao, The Parisian Macao
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Harrison Ford surprised SAG-AFTRA members during a nomination committee Q&A this afternoon when he showed up to talk about his role on Apple TV+’s “Shrinking.” Ford was keen to lavish praise on the cast of the comedy-drama television series, describing working with his co-stars as a uniquely different experience that rejuvenated his perspective on acting.
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Zack Snyder knew he was going to be the butt of a “Barbie” joke well before the blockbuster comedy opened in theaters from Warner Bros. In a new interview with Men’s Health, the “Rebel Moon” director revealed Warner Bros.’ film co-chief Michael DeLuca informed his wife and producer partner Deborah Snyder earlier this year about
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The Film Independent Spirit Awards nominations will be announced on Tuesday, a day before the National Board of Review will weigh in on its selections for the best films and performances of 2023. They’ll be following the New York Film Critics Circle who kicked off the season last week by crowning Martin Scorsese’s “Killers of
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Donovan Chan, co-chief and creative director of Singapore-based Beach House Pictures has operations that span scripted, unscripted and branded TV as well as film, across the width of the Asia region. That gives him a unique perspective on a trying last year and where the upsides appear to be. He sat down with Variety on
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Any movie fan who thought “Dune” was lacking on the action front will be happy with the upcoming sequel, at least according to director Denis Villeneuve. In a new interview with Total Film magazine, Villeneuve touted the 2024 sequel as “more muscular” than the first installment that hit theaters and Max in 2021. “The first
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NBC saw solid ratings on Wednesday night with the airing of two Christmas specials Airing from 8-10 p.m. on Nov. 29, the annual “Christmas in Rockefeller Center” special reached an audience of 7 million people when accounting for three days of delayed viewing across NBC, Peacock and digital platforms. That number, calculated from a combination
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“Barbie” screenwriters Greta Gerwig and Noah Baumbach joined one another for a “60 Minutes” interview in which they were asked about the surprising “anti-man” backlash to their blockbuster comedy. Several conservative figures blasted “Barbie” after it opened in theaters over the summer for its patriarchy jokes, which they perceived as being anti-man. Bill Maher even
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The Spider-Man Noir live-action series in the works at Amazon has brought on Steve Lightfoot as co-showrunner, Variety has learned exclusively. The show was first reported to be in the works at Amazon back in February. Oren Uziel is the writer on the project and will serve alongside Lightfoot as co-showrunner and executive producer. As
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While it includes some of the most iconic Christmas songs of the past 60 years — most notably Darlene Love’s “Christmas (Baby Please Come Home) — if there was ever an album with a problematic history, it’s “A Christmas Gift for You From Phil Spector.” Spector was the hottest producer in the world at the time
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