The popular social media app TikTok will be the focus of a new feature documentary from “Coded Bias” director Shalini Kantayya. The film is the latest offering from the team behind Hulu’s upcoming “WeWork: Or the Making and Breaking of a $47 Billion Unicorn,” which is set to premiere at this year’s SXSW. It’s being
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Gravitas Ventures, an independent film distributor, has acquired worldwide rights to Charlie Minn’s next three documentaries. Those projects — “7 Murders a Day,” “Who Shot Colosio?” and “Miracle on 4th Street” — complement Minn’s background in investigative journalism. Minn directed and produced the non-fiction films, which were shot both prior to and during the coronavirus
Phoebe Bridgers rose to indie-rock stardom the traditional way: by performing her incisive and plaintive songs for gradually growing audiences on tour, night after night. But due to the pandemic, she’s grown to achieve mainstream recognition largely from the confines of her home. “It feels very unreal, because my life has actually changed very little,”
“I would have driven her anywhere, because I thought she was really good and needed to get some performing experience,” says Phoebe Bridgers’ mother, Jamie, who is a real-estate agent and standup comic, but as we see below, also the best kind of stage mom. Phoebe, who is up for four Grammy Awards at Sunday’s
The comedy series ensemble nominees at the 27th annual SAG Awards offer an interesting split of light and uplifting material with the dark and dangerous. And even more notably, all but one are first-timers in this race. To get a closer look at how nominations-round voting shook out, Variety’s Michael Schneider and Danielle Turchiano returned
Variety breaks down each category at the 27th annual SAG Awards ceremony, to be held on April 4. Cast in a Motion PictureThere was a time when it seemed a film couldn’t win a best picture Oscar without a SAG ensemble nom, but in recent years, several films — such as “Green Book” and “The
YouTube is again touting the living-room TV as the fastest-growing screen in its device matrix, angling to get more advertisers to spend money on the platform. In December 2020, more than 120 million Americans streamed YouTube and YouTube TV on their TVs — up over 20% from 100 million in March 2020, according to the
BTS’ “Map of the Soul: 7” album has been announced as the first-ever winner of IFPI’s newly-launched Global Album All Format Chart, following a countdown of the top ten biggest albums globally, IFPI is the organization that represents the recorded music industry worldwide. The chart, an addition to IFPI’s existing global awards, celebrates the best-selling
WarnerMedia, in another step forward to make HBO Max easier to access, announced that the streaming service’s app is now available to Cox Communications’ Contour customers on their set-top boxes. The AT&T-owned media conglomerate had a pact with Cox to offer the operator’s HBO customers access to HBO Max for no extra cost for the
Italy’s Nexo Digital, the company known internationally for co-producing and distributing theatrical event content for the global market, is launching an innovative subscription streaming platform in Italy dedicated to a mix of content comprising movies, opera, ballet and theater with long-term ambitions to expand the service beyond national confines. “We have acquired more than 1,500
Breaking News Meghan Markle set the wheels in motion for Piers Morgan to quit “Good Morning Britain” … reportedly by filing a complaint with his bosses about his remarks after the Oprah interview. According to multiple reports, The Duchess of Sussex went directly to honchos at ITV — which airs ‘GMB’ — shortly after Piers’
Style Points is a weekly column about how fashion intersects with the wider world. I have long maintained that the worst thing you can do to me is send me an email. But lately, I’ve had to revise that stance to “maybe some emails are good.” Between Molly Young’s books newsletter Read Like the Wind,
Esteemed independent record label 4AD is belatedly celebrating its 40th anniversary with “Bills and Aches and Blues,” an 18-track collection of vintage songs recorded by new and current acts on its roster. The series launched digitally today with Tkay Maidza covering Pixies’ “Where Is My Mind?”; U.S. Girls reworking The Birthday Party’s “Junkyard”; Aldous Harding
SPOILER ALERT: Do not read if you haven’t seen “The Series Finale,” the ninth and final episode of “WandaVision” on Disney Plus. From their very first meeting about “WandaVision” to shooting the final scene of the game-changing Marvel Studios series for Disney Plus, actor Elizabeth Olsen and head writer and executive producer Jac Schaeffer have
“The Mountain Bride,” a new feature film by Italian director Maura Delpero, whose 2019 drama “Maternal” made a splash on the international arthouse circuit, is among projects selected for the TorinoFilmLab’s ScriptLab development workshop. Delpero, who is the winner of last year’s annual Women in Motion Young Talent Award bestowed by the Kering Group and
Following the presentation of exclusive footage at the European Film Market last week, highly anticipated title “Official Competition” – reuniting Spanish stars Antonio Banderas and Penélope Cruz – has seized sales to major distributors for sales agency Protagonist Pictures and producer The Mediapro Studio. Banderas, Cannes best actor winner and Academy Award nominee for “Pain
Meghan Markle is believed to have filed a formal complaint to ITV over former “Good Morning Britain” presenter Piers Morgan’s comments about her suicide revelations. Variety understands that Markle wrote to CEO Carolyn McCall on Monday, raising concerns over how Morgan’s words would affect the mental health dialogue in the U.K. and may even impact
Exclusive When the mural gods close one door, they open another … at least for Taylor Swift, who’s about to get an upgrade in Nashville after being removed from an iconic piece of art. You may recall … Taylor was replaced in the “Legends Corner” mural back around Christmas time by the Nashville honky-tonk bar
Netflix Spain’s most ambitious series release of 2021, “Sky Rojo,” the new original from “Money Heist” creators Álex Pina and Esther Martínez Lobato, will launch in nine days time, premiering worldwide on the platform March 19. Shifting from the dark, almost noir aesthetics of “Money Heist,” the new series utilizes a brightly colored, grindhouse aesthetic
Longtime MGM Television executive Steve Stark, who championed the studio’s Emmy-winning drama “The Handmaid’s Tale,” is leaving his executive post and transitioning to a producing deal with the studio. Just over a year ago, Stark was named president of the newly formed MGM/UA Television label and extended his deal with the studio. He had previously
It was news as usual at U.K. broadcaster ITV’s breakfast show “Good Morning Britain” on Wednesday, as former presenter Piers Morgan stood by his disbelief of Meghan Markle’s statements. “On Monday, I said I didn’t believe Meghan Markle in her Oprah interview. I’ve had time to reflect on this opinion, and I still don’t. If
Exclusive Jamie Spears and his legal team say Reps. Matt Gaetz and Jim Jordan have it all wrong when it comes to Britney Spears‘ conservatorship — telling us it only works to protect Britney — and saying anything otherwise is flat out wrong. Jamie’s attorney, Vivian Thoreen, says since the beginning, the conservatorship has been
The Hong Kong International Film Festival has unveiled a familiar lineup of titles, talks and retrospectives for its 45th edition, which will return to its normal springtime slot (April 1-4, 2021) after disruptions last year caused by the coronavirus. “For the first time in our history, we will be presenting a hybrid festival consisting of
Bollywood icon Amitabh Bachchan will be the 2021 recipient of the annual award presented by the International Federation of Film Archives (FIAF). The FIAF Award was introduced in 2001, when it was presented to Martin Scorsese for his film archival efforts. It has since recognized personalities from outside the archival scene who have worked to
Winston Marshall, the banjo player for British folk-rock band Mumford & Sons, is “taking time away” from the group following social media backlash regarding a tweet in which he praised right-wing writer Andy Ngo. In the since-deleted tweet posted over the weekend, Marshall — who is British — congratulated Ngo on publishing his most recent
To the list of artists who are unhappy about the Grammys this year, including “snubbed” artists like the Weeknd and Halsey, add Zayn Malik… for reasons that, even after he dropped F-bombs against the awards “and everyone associated,” remain somewhat mysterious. One big difference between Malik and some of the previously aggrieved artists is that
Nexstar’s NewsNation channel is in turmoil as it faces staff defections amid concerns that the outlet is being pushed by management to lean to the right in its news coverage. The simmering controversy for the channel previously known as WGN America gained steam on Tuesday when Nexstar confirmed that Jennifer Lyons, the WGN-TV Chicago news
Elizabeth Banks has set her next directing gig — inspired by an (almost unbelievable) true story involving cocaine smuggling and a 175-pound bear. Banks has signed on to direct “Cocaine Bear,” which is described as a “character-driven thriller inspired by true events that took place in Kentucky in 1985,” produced by “The Lego Movie” filmmakers
A COVID-19 vaccine clinic in Pasadena, Calif., set to take place on Thursday was cancelled on Tuesday after the majority of its time slots were filled with those who work in Hollywood and the media. As first reported by the Los Angeles Times, 900 of the clinic’s 1,500 vaccination slots were claimed by those ineligible
Lexi Underwood has been cast in the recurring role of Malia Obama in the Showtime anthology series “The First Lady,” Variety has learned. The series is described as a reframing of American leadership, told through the lens of the women at the heart of the White House. Viola Davis will play Michelle Obama, while O-T