Bustle Digital Group, the company behind websites like Bustle, Mic and Gawker, has acquired Joshua Topolsky’s The Outline, the company confirmed Wednesday afternoon. As part of the deal, Topolsky and his staff will join the Bustle Digital team. News of the acquisition was first reported by Recode. “The Outline has created industry leading technology and
admin
March 27, 2019 4:15PM PT History has teamed with Sylvester Stallone to develop “Tenderloin,” a police drama set in New York in the early 1900s. Stallone is set to executive produce and direct multiple episodes of the series through his Balboa Productions and A+E Studios. “Sons of Anarchy” alum Stephen Kay is penning the pilot.
Lifetime has ordered two music-themed miniseries, one revolving around female rap stars Salt-N-Pepa, the other focused on the Clark Sisters gospel group. Both projects are produced by Queen Latifah’s Flavor Unit banner. “Salt-N-Pepa” and the Clark Sisters project were among several new programs unveiled by Lifetime Wednesday night at the cabler’s upfront presentation at New
John Legend and “American Idol” producer Simon Lythgoe are among those teaming up to develop “Love at First Song,” a music competition-dating show hybrid, Variety has learned. The show, which is based on a format first seen on Vietnamese TV and hails from South Korean entertainment and mass media company CJ ENM, will likely try and
Jussie Smollett is nominated for an NAACP Image Award for his work on “Empire,” but it’s still unknown if he will attend the upcoming festivities on Saturday at the Dolby Theater in Hollywood. Anthony Anderson, who returns as host for the sixth consecutive year, hopes the actor will make an appearance. “I hope to see
WASHINGTON — In the river of revelation and speculation that surrounded Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation, no other media bombshell quite matched the disclosure of a June 2016 Trump Tower meeting between top members of the Trump campaign, a Russian lawyer with ties to the Putin regime. Now that Attorney General William Barr has
In today’s roundup, a two-hour feature documentary on the making of the final season of “Game of Thrones” comes to HBO May 26 and Netflix releases a trailer for the upcoming interactive Bear Grylls series “You vs. Wild.” DATES “Game of Thrones: The Last Watch,” a two-hour feature documentary on the making of the upcoming
J.J. Abrams has added his name to the more than 750 showrunners and screenwriters backing the Writers Guild’s battle against talent agencies taking packaging fees and owning production companies. Abrams sent a message out Wednesday afternoon, four days after the letter of support was issued. The 15,000 members of the WGA will begin five days
Amazon Prime will ring in the beginning of Spring by adding fresh content to its streaming slate this coming April. While the subscription service sees new titles added every month, its newest additions seem to be particularly noteworthy, including “A Quiet Place” which earned an Academy Award nomination this year in the sound editing category.
March 27, 2019 2:43PM PT Walt Disney Television chairman Peter Rice downplayed the threat of massive layoffs hitting Disney’s enlarged television division during an hourlong town hall held Wednesday morning. The gathering marked the first time that many Disney TV employees had the chance to see Rice in person. The event was held at a
Jim Jarmusch’s zombie movie “The Dead Don’t Die,” starring Bill Murray, will open on June 14. Focus Features’ “The Dead Don’t Die” also stars Adam Driver, Tilda Swinton, Chloë Sevigny, Steve Buscemi, Danny Glover, Caleb Landry Jones, Rosie Perez, Iggy Pop, Sara Driver, RZA, Selena Gomez, Carol Kane, and Tom Waits. The movie is written
Following the likes of Willie Nelson Snoop Dogg, Wiz Khalifa, Whoopi Goldberg and Melissa Etheridge, the latest to enter the burgeoning legal cannabis market are Hollywood heavies Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg. The two longtime collaborators, both natives of Vancouver, today announced Houseplant, which is described as “an elevated Canadian Cannabis company” with a focus
The top negotiator for Hollywood agents has told members that the Writers Guild of America will not make a deal until near the April 7 expiration of the franchise agreement. Karen Stuart, executive director of the Association of Talent Agents, issued the missive at mid-day Wednesday and blamed the guild over the lack of progress
March 27, 2019 12:46PM PT Sonequa Martin-Green is in negotiations to join LeBron James in Warner Bros.’ “Space Jam 2,” sources tell Variety. Terence Nance, creator of the HBO show “Random Acts of Flyness,” is directing the untitled sequel, with “Black Panther” director Ryan Coogler producing with James and his partner Maverick Carter (through their
Google’s greatest promise with Stadia is that it frees video games from boxes, unhinging the imagination of creators, of players, of streamers in a way never possible before in the roughly four-decade history of the medium. Stadia aims to take the ubiquitous nature of gaming culture and apply it to the games themselves, making it
Downtown Music Holdings, the parent company of Downtown Music Publishing and Songtrust, has signed a definitive agreement to acquire the AVL Digital Group and its portfolio of music-distribution, rights-management and artist-services businesses, including AdRev, CD Baby, DashGo and Soundrop, the company announced today. The deal was in the vicinity of $200 million, according to Music
Amid shaky prospects for a new deal with Hollywood agents, members of the Writers Guild of America have started voting on a “code of conduct” that will enable writers to fire their agents on April 7. Five days of online voting by the 15,000 WGA members began Wednesday morning. The code includes provisions eliminating agency
The hallmark of a great pair of shoes is versatility. You know you’ve got your hands on something special when the same style works for brunch with friends, a day at the office, and a night out. Even better? When it’s super comfortable like a sneaker. Thanks to the growing popularity of the category, it’s
March 27, 2019 11:17AM PT Andy Leyshon is leaving STX Entertainment and Llewellyn Radley and Rhiannon Harries have been handed new roles in a rejig announced Wednesday. Radley and Harries will report to John Friedberg, who has just taken the helm at international following David Kosse’s departure for Netflix. Leyshon will exit as managing director,
A TV writer filed suit against Creative Artists Agency on Tuesday, alleging that his agents stole his idea for a show and gave it to a higher-profile client. John Musero worked as a writer on the Aaron Sorkin show “The Newsroom” in 2014. The following year, he says he wrote a pilot called “Main Justice,”
Disney’s upcoming adaptation of “Dumbo” is taking flight this weekend. Directed by Tim Burton, the studio’s live-action re-imagining of the 1941 cartoon is expected to earn roughly $50 million when it launches in 4,200 North American venues. Independent tracking services anticipate the opening weekend could fall anywhere between $40 million and $58 million. Should those
March 27, 2019 10:56AM PT In a competitive situation, Paramount Television has landed the rights to the follow-up novel to “Sex and the City,” Variety has confirmed. “Is There Still Sex in the City?,” which is set to be released by Grove Press on Aug. 6, hails from “Sex and the City” author Candace Bushnell.
After fans speculated that Everclear frontman Art Alexakis had “fallen off the wagon,” the singer revealed to fans on the band’s website yesterday that he was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis three years ago. The 56-year old singer, who has been outspoken about his past struggles with substance abuse, wrote that after “hearing a lot of people
Facebook is tightening the rules around content produced by the fringe right: The company is going to ban “praise, support and representation of white nationalism and separatism” on both Facebook and Instagram, it announced Wednesday. “Going forward, while people will still be able to demonstrate pride in their ethnic heritage, we will not tolerate praise
Vice Media has agreed to pay a total of $1.875 million to five former female staffers to settle a class-action lawsuit alleging the company consistently paid women less than men. The settlement of the lawsuit was conditionally approved in the Superior Court of Los Angeles on March 25. News of the settlement was first reported
Music Box Films has acquired all U.S. rights to François Ozon’s “By the Grace of God,” a drama about the activist group that pushed French authorities to address a sex-abuse coverup in the Roman Catholic Church. The film world-premiered in competition at the Berlin Film Festival and went on to win the Silver Bear Grand
After years of mostly sitting on the sidelines of the digital land grab, Viacom has gotten serious about investing in an online future for its stable of youth-skewing TV properties like MTV, Nickelodeon and Comedy Central. A cornerstone of CEO Bob Bakish’s digital road map is Viacom Digital Studios, led by president Kelly Day, a
Courtesy Beach pants are the type of clothing that give you the opportunity to step out of your usual trouser habits and wear what you really want: elastic waist bottoms that are kind of weird. They’re a fancy version of couch sweats, if you will. Zippers are discouraged, zany prints are a must, and hell,
March 27, 2019 10:00AM PT Twitch is launching a new four-person multiplayer-centric feature known as Squad Stream. Inspired by the multiplayer gaming moments that players have cherished over the years such as “Rock Band” sessions, “GoldenEye” games after school, or building together in “Minecraft,” the feature is a way for four creator to go live
The “Game of Thrones” prequel pilot at HBO is beefing up its cast. Marquis Rodriquez, John Simm, Richard McCabe, John Heffernan, and Dixie Egerickx have all been cast in series regular roles. As with all things “Game of Thrones,” the exact nature of the characters each will be playing is being kept under tight wraps.