First Look Media has appointed Ian Stratford as its new chief legal officer and head of business affairs. Prior to joining First Look Media, Stratford served as SVP, associate general counsel at Endeavor where he helped found Endeavor Content, the agency’s production, financing and sales arm. In this role, he built and led Endeavor Content’s
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The beleaguered U.K. exhibition sector, reeling from a COVID-afflicted, calamitous 2020 that has continued into 2021, is finally seeing some green shoots. Though the country began 2021 under lockdown with cinemas closed — a situation that’s unlikely to ease in the near future — a combination of decreasing case loads and a robust vaccination rollout
Universal Music Group has promoted veteran music attorney Michael Seltzer to executive VP of business & legal affairs and head of commercial transactions. According to the announcement, Seltzer oversees a team of 15 attorneys helping shape and negotiate the company’s agreements including recording contracts, label ventures, label distribution, merchandise, vendors, trademark entities, brand partners, film,
The U.K.’s National Film & Television School (NFTS) and the British Film Institute (BFI) have partnered on an education initiative designed to increase diverse access to quality industry education. The Early Stage Access and Diversity Accelerator Program aims to address the skills gap by widening access to learning opportunities and embedding diversity and inclusion within
European media giant RTL Group reached a deal to sells SpotX, its U.S. ad-tech subsidiary, to Magnite for $1.17 billion in cash and stock. Magnite said that with the acquisition of SpotX, the combined entity will “create the largest independent [connected TV] and video advertising platform in the programmatic marketplace.” The sale of SpotX to
In today’s Global Bulletin, Amazon begins filling 1,000 apprenticeships coming to the U.K. in 2021, ViacomCBS Networks International appoints Anna Priest as senior VP and chief marketing officer in the U.K., NL Film fills out its leadership teams and Viddsee begins streaming spoof series “AI Love K-Drama” in Singapore. APPRENTICESHIP Amazon has launched a recruitment
Universal Music Group has removed its entire music library from video app Triller, a would-be TikTok competitor, alleging Triller has withheld payments to the music giant’s artists. “We will not work with platforms that do not value artists. Triller has shamefully withheld payments owed to our artists and refuses to negotiate a license going forward,”
Due to COVID-19 cinema lockdowns or restrictions, box office in the Nordic region plummeted in 2020 year-on-year by 64% in Sweden, 57.6% in Iceland, 57% in Norway, 54% in Finland, and 47% in Denmark. The dearth of new U.S .tentpoles, combined with strong domestic titles such as “Another Round,” allowed homegrown movies to punch all-time
Olivia Colman (“The Crown”), Matt Smith (“Doctor Who”), Patricia Allison (“Sex Education”) and Rob Brydon (“The Trip” franchise) lead the voice cast of BBC animation special “Superworm.” Based on the book “Superworm,” written by Julia Donaldson and illustrated by Axel Scheffler, the half-hour show will air over Christmas on BBC One and BBC iPlayer. The
In his review of Bryan Fogel’s “The Dissident,” about the murder of Jamal Khashoggi, Variety critic Owen Gleiberman notes that the investigative doc “has the shadow intrigue of cyber-warfare” including the hacking of Jeff Bezos’ cell phone and the army of trolls it exposes, allegedly hired to crush voices against the Saudi kingdom on Twitter.
Ruben Östlund, the Palme d’Or-winning director of “The Square,” did not binge-watch series on a couch during the pandemic. Instead, Östlund, who received the 2021 Nordic Honorary Dragon Award on Thursday, told Variety that he had the time of his life shooting “Triangle of Sadness,” his most ambitious film to date, in exotic locations with
Next month’s Osaka Asian Film Festival will open with a screening of documentary feature “Keep Rolling.” The festival, which runs in front of live audiences March 5-14, 2021, will close with the world premiere of Ishii Yuya’s “The Asian Angel.” “Keep Rolling” is a touching portrait of the long, up and down career of Ann
Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson’s directorial debut “Summer of Soul (…Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised)” has been acquired by Searchlight Pictures and Hulu after its Sundance premiere, where it won both the Grand Jury prize and Audience award. “I’m so honored to be allowed to manifest my dreams after all this time,” Thompson said
The pandemic ensures that the Weeknd’s halftime performance at the Super Bowl will be like none before. And in a brief interview for the NFL Network posted Thursday, he revealed another break with tradition: There will be no special guest. Asked by sportscaster Kay Adams, he laughs and shakes his head before saying: “I’ve been
Nearly six years ago, “Rams,” a touching humanist drama from Iceland directed and written by Grímur Hákonarson, won hearts — and prizes — at the Cannes Film Festival. Now, in trots “Rams,” an Australian remake, directed by Jeremy Sims (“Last Cab to Darwin”). Adapted with winning cultural specificity by former newsman Jules Duncan, it’s longer
Non-fiction film and television studio XTR and documentary production company Optimist are partnering up for a feature documentary about the GameStop, WallStreetBets and short squeeze movement. “This story is still evolving daily,” director Chris Temple said. “It’s so important to have a strong, nuanced documentary that can capture this landmark moment as it unfolds, through
Although he occasionally uses a broad brush dipped in primary colors while fashioning his admiring portrait of Bob Zellner, the grandson of a Ku Klux Klansman who improbably evolved into a civil rights activist during the early 1960s, filmmaker Barry Alexander Brown shrewdly and intelligently avoids most of the “white savior” clichés common to such
With COVID-19 still raging around the world, a melancholy love story about a 2021 viral pandemic that ravages people’s relationships, romances and sense of self is perhaps not the easiest sell at the moment. Such timeliness proves both a blessing and a curse for “Little Fish,” writer-director Chad Hartigan’s heartfelt tale about a couple struggling
Authorities on Thursday ordered Beijing cinemas to cut their max capacity to just 50% over the upcoming Chinese New Year holiday to combat the spread of COVID-19, Chinese reports said, slashing prospective returns in what is typically, far and away, their most profitable week of the year. Cinemas in China’s capital received urgent word from
Rob Lowe has cut quite a path through primetime during the 20-plus years since he joined “The West Wing.” He turned down “Grey’s Anatomy,” but landed in the ensemble of “Parks and Recreation.” He sold a show about chasing Bigfoot with his sons to A&E Network. From 2003 to 2018 he was also a regular
In today’s TV news roundup, Netflix released the trailer for “Behind Her Eyes” and Peacock announced it is adding the third season of “Mr. Mercedes” next month. DATES Pluto TV will stream a special two-week sampling of the premiere episodes of the Queen Latifah-starring “The Equalizer” and “The Silence of the Lambs” sequel series “Clarice”
Morgan Wallen has been dropped by his booking agency WME, a rep for the company confirmed to Variety, after video footage surfaced of him using a racial slur. The country star has had his contract with label Big Loud “suspended” and found himself a pariah from the airwaves after video circulated on Tuesday of him
A film driven by themes of addiction and grief, “Eight for Silver” features a French village in the 19th century under threat by a wild, possibly supernatural animal. Still, the cast assured they had a good time on set. “We actually had a lot of fun making it,” Kelly Reilly explained at Variety’s Studio presented by
AT&T already a long list of “to-dos” when it comes to WarnerMedia, the big entertainment conglomerate it purchased for $85 billion in 2018. Jeff Zucker’s exit from CNN makes it even longer. Jeff Zucker’s announcement Thursday that he will exit his role as president of CNN, and, presumably, as head of Turner Sports, by the
ViacomCBS has reestablished its working relationship with Nick Cannon. The move, company insiders tell Variety, comes as a result of the steps that the performer and producer has taken to engage and partner with Jewish leaders and make amends for anti-Semitic statements he made last summer that led to ViacomCBS to cut its ties to
The first track from the forthcoming “Coming 2 America” soundtrack is “I’m A King,” an original song by Grammy-nominated rappers Bobby Sessions and Megan Thee Stallion. It premieres tomorrow (Feb. 5). “From watching Coming to America as a kid in Pleasant Grove to being apart of the #Coming2America trailer!! Manifestation is REAL,” Sessions wrote in
Berlin film sales agent M-Appeal has struck deals with leading German distributors for rock music drama “The Night of the Beast” and family adventure film “Sisters: The Summer We Found Our Superpowers.” Alamode, the distributor of specialty titles such as “Portrait of a Lady on Fire” and “Les Misérables,” has acquired “The Night of the
Lionsgate’s revenues fell during the most recent fiscal quarter, as the media company behind the “Hunger Games” and “John Wick” franchises recorded a loss of $13.9 million. The company did manage to beat Wall Street’s expectations, however, with its earnings bolstered by the growing popularity of its Starz service and through lucrative licensing deals for
In a movie where the female protagonist finds her inner strength after joining an army of girls, it was only right the cast and crew reflected its story. “The idea of working with all women, I’ve never done that before and I hope to do that forever and way more because it was the best
NBC has given a straight to series order to crime drama “The Thing About Pam,” with Renee Zellweger set to executive produce and star. The six-episode true-crime series from Blumhouse Television, NBC News Studios and Zellweger’s Big Picture Co. is based on the 2011 murder of Betsy Faria, which was explored on the NBC news