Animating the story of a Chinese family and reimagining the legend of moon goddess Chang’e was both an artistically fulfilling and a meaningful project for the creative team and cast of “Over the Moon.” When reading the script for the first time, animator Glen Keane immediately fell in love with Fei Fei but felt like
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Perhaps it’s because the present moment is so unsettled that “Call Your Mother,” ABC’s new sitcom from “The New Adventures of Old Christine” creator Kari Lizer, manages to feel in its pilot episode more comforting than it otherwise might. The series, about an overbearing mom (Kyra Sedgwick) barging in on the lives of her two
“Bachelor In Paradise” was a television casualty of 2020. With production halted across the industry in the height of the pandemic, ABC’s fan-favorite summer dating show wasn’t able to shoot its seventh season last year. Now, with coronavirus numbers surging once again, TV shows and film productions are shutting down, once again, and non-essential travel
>When San Francisco-based musician and activist Jello Biafra’s Instagram flashed photos of the singer wearing a “Trump Hates Me” T-shirt with a link to his song, “Nazi Trumps Fuck Off” on the day that the Capitol fell under siege, it was hardly the first time Biafra showed off his brand of caustic politics. The very
Producer and songwriter Louis Bell, who has worked extensively with Post Malone and has notched hits with Camila Cabello (“Havana”), the Jonas Brothers (“Sucker”) and Halsey (“Without Me”), has signed an exclusive global publishing deal with Universal Music Publishing Group (UMPG). The company has also acquired Bell’s catalog. Bell has been nominated for six Grammy
Demi Lovato is returning to YouTube with a new docuseries. “Demi Lovato: Dancing With the Devil,” set to debut in March, will unpack the most challenging times in the artist’s life and career, including when she discovered the importance of her physical, emotional and mental health. For the first time, Lovato will open up about
Quibi announced a deal last week with Roku, which acquired the bulk of the failed mobile startup’s streaming rights — some 75 shows, which the streaming platform plans to make available for free on the Roku Channel. But even though Quibi has now mostly wound down operations, the Jeffrey Katzenberg-founded company has retained a legal
Pilar Schneider, the mother of comedian and actor Rob Schneider, died of natural causes Monday at her home in Pacifica, Calif. She was 91. Rob Schneider wrote a tribute to his mother on Instagram and shared a family photo with details of her life. “Pilar spoke often of joining her beloved husband of 39 years,
Melissa Grego’s three-year stint as the CEO of the Hollywood Radio and Television Society will continue on. Today, the HRTS announced that Grego’s role has been re-upped. The organization’s also released the names of its newly-elected Executive Officers and Board Members, and the industry leaders newly appointed to serve as Advisory Council members. “It has
Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson’s upcoming Starz Original Series, “Black Mafia Family,” has chosen its star protagonist. Demetrius “Lil Meech” Flenory Jr., son of notorious cocaine kingpin and southwest Detroit legend Demetrius “Big Meech” Flenory will make his acting debut portraying his father. Inspired by the true story of one of the most influential crime families
Yvonne Orji is developing a semi-autobiographical comedy series at Disney Plus that boasts David Oyelowo and Oprah Winfrey among its executive producers, Variety has learned. Titled “First Gen,” the half-hour show is based on Orji’s personal experiences growing up as a Nigerian immigrant in America. As a child, she’s caught between trying to honor her parents
PaleyFest LA will once again return this spring, and the first pieces of programming announced for the television festival are a “Six Feet Under” reunion and panel discussions for ABC’s “Big Sky” and CBS’ “The Late Late Show With James Corden.” Due to ongoing health and safety precautions amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2021 PaleyFest
In August 2020, Bradley Rainey was named head of WME’s music for visual media department, succeeding veteran agent Amos Newman and taking on a roster of Oscar, Emmy and Grammy winners including Hans Zimmer, Randy Newman, Ludwig Göransson, Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, among others. The 35-year-old Rainey, a graduate of USC’s film school, was
Jessica Campbell, best known for her roles in the 1999 film “Election” and cult classic series “Freaks and Geeks,” has died at 38. Campbell’s family announced the actor died on Dec. 29 in Portland, Ore. Campbell retired from acting to become a naturopathic physician, and she collapsed after seeing patients at her practice. She was
“Insecure” is set to end after its upcoming Season 5 on HBO, Variety has learned. The critically-acclaimed comedy was renewed for a fifth season in May 2020 as Season 4 was just beginning.The fifth and final season is scheduled to begin production later this month and is set to debut later this year. “Issa has
The 78th Annual Golden Globe nominations are still a few weeks away from being announced, and in preparation, Variety senior editors Michael Schneider and Danielle Turchiano turned their attention to drama series contenders in the latest Variety Awards Circuit video, presented by HBO. Among the titles discussed are Netflix’s period pieces “Bridgerton,” which is Shondaland’s
Rami Malek and Zoe Saldana have joined the ensemble cast of David O. Russell’s upcoming movie at New Regency. The untitled film, in which plot details are as vague as the moniker itself, also stars Christian Bale, Margot Robbie and John David Washington. Russell will direct from his own script. Production is currently underway in
Wavelength, the New York-based indie studio behind Sundance players like “Where’s My Roy Cohn?” and “Farwell Amor,” has named producer Joe Plummer as president. Founded by CEO Jenifer Westphal in 2015, the company recently saw Plummer serving as supervising producer across the slate. As president, he will oversee operations and spearhead development, production and investment
The new calendar year is stacked to the brim with some of the biggest names in film, but this time they’ll be tackling their roles on television instead. Many of Marvel’s upcoming projects are aimed at streaming, with some of the heroes from their blockbuster movies being expounded upon in spinoff series. “WandaVision” premieres Friday,
Shelley Zimmerman has departed Awesomeness and is joining Kerry Ehrin’s Bad Attitude Entertainment as president of television, where she will develop and produce new projects for the company. “Shelley brings a wealth of experience and knowledge and has great creative instincts, and is the perfect person to partner with as I look to expand my
The stars of All Elite Wrestling (AEW) are getting their own awards show. It was announced Wednesday that AEW and TNT were partnering to launch the first ever “AEW Dynamite Awards,” which will air live exclusively on the Bleacher Report app on Jan. 27 at 7 p.m. ET. Starting today, fans can vote for their
In an announcement that reflects Dr. Anthony Fauci’s statement that concerts may return in the fall “if all goes right,” New York’s primary rock-music festival, Governors Ball, has announced its 2021 dates for September, three months later than its traditional June dates. “New Year, New Dates,” the announcement reads, promising that the lineup is “coming
It was likely, if not downright inevitable, that in the year of our lockdown, somebody would make a drama called “Locked Down,” about a handful of people in lockdown. The director Doug Liman and the screenwriter Steven Knight conceived their movie in July, sold it in September and had completed shooting it, in London, by
The upcoming “Lord of the Rings” series at Amazon has unveiled the show’s official synopsis. The epic series is described as follows: “Amazon Studios’ forthcoming series brings to screens for the very first time the heroic legends of the fabled Second Age of Middle-earth’s history. This epic drama is set thousands of years before the
Ellen DeGeneres returned to television on Jan. 13 and used the opening monologue of “Ellen” to explain how she learned about her positive COVID-19 diagnosis on set, which caused production on the daytime show to halt. “I was getting ready to tape the show, and I was in hair and makeup, getting my face powdered
Fox News Channel said Peter Doocy, a Washington-based correspondent at the cable-news network, would move to the White House beat, working alongside Kristin Fisher and filling a spot left vacant by John Roberts’ coming move to the anchor desk. Doocy, whose father, Steve Doocy, is the co-anchor of the network’s “Fox & Friends” morning program,
ViacomCBS is consolidating all live-action production, including development, current series and studio content, across Nickelodeon and Awesomeness under one team led by Nickelodeon’s Shauna Phelan and Zack Olin. The pair are expanding their purview beyond Nickelodeon’s live-action scripted projects to include live-action production for Awesomeness and third-party platforms. The shift follows the departure of Awesomeness’
Buy the downturn. That may be the mantra for media M&A in the coming year as entertainment giants go through a period of “repositioning” and the streaming sector drives innovation and reinvention. On the latest episode of Variety podcast “Strictly Business,” Bart Spiegel, U.S. entertainment and media deals leader for PWC, predicts there will be
The 27th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards has been rescheduled to April 4, a week after the Grammy Awards moved to its previous date of March 14. The awards ceremony will be broadcast on TNT and TBS at 6 p.m. PT/9 p.m. ET and will honor the outstanding film and TV performances of 2020. Due
With smash hits like “WAP,” “Savage” and “Hot Girl Summer,” Megan Thee Stallion is known as one of the biggest breakthrough stars in recent memory — but an alternate universe could have first seen the rapper as a cast member for “Love & Hip Hop.” VH1 shared a video to Instagram on Monday showing clips