March 26, 2019 7:40PM PT The Writers Guild of America, which is threatening to require members to fire their agents, has posted a scathing video attacking how major agencies conduct packaging. Titled “Agency Conflicts of Interest,” the video explains that compensation for writers has declined by 23% between 2014 and 2016 and blames the agencies
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TPG Capital, the massive private equity firm that owns Creative Artists Agency, is buying payroll specialist Entertainment Partners for an undisclosed price. Entertainment Partners’ management team, led by president and CEO Mark Goldstein, will continue in their roles. The agreement was announced Tuesday with plans to close the deal during the second quarter. “We’re thrilled
March 26, 2019 5:26PM PT In today’s roundup, “Million Dollar Mile” releases an exclusive clip and CBS announces premiere dates for three shows. DATES CBS has announced premiere dates for one new series and two returning series. The new action adventure series “Blood and Treasure” will debut with a two-hour episode Tuesday, May 21 at
March 26, 2019 5:16PM PT Top CAA talent agent and actor-whisperer Jim Toth has made a surprise leap to content creation and acquisition, joining Jeffrey Katzenberg’s mobile video startup Quibi. Toth, known for his deep stable of talent and one of the most successful in his generation of agents, will assume the title of head
The dealmakers appear to be getting nowhere. Negotiators for Hollywood agents and the Writers Guild of America have achieved little progress at their seventh session on Tuesday, with a chaotic scenario looming on April 7. “When Guild leadership is ready to move on from their declared threatening phase, we stand ready to work through these
March 26, 2019 4:01PM PT WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump intends to appoint actor Jon Voight, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, and Broadway producer Daryl Roth to the board of trustees of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. The list of new appointees also includes American Financial Group co-CEO Carl Lindner III,
The U.S. Latin music business experienced its second year of double-digit growth in 2018, driven almost entirely by streaming, according to the RIAA’s year-end report. The Latin market grew 18% in 2018 to $413 million, driven by a nearly 50% growth in revenues from paid subscriptions, the report says. Streaming formats made up a whopping
March 26, 2019 3:36PM PT “Life in Pieces” star Zoe Lister-Jones will write and direct Sony Pictures’ remake of “The Craft” for Blumhouse and Red Wagon Entertainment. Doug Wick, the producer of the original “The Craft,” will return in the same capacity along with partner Lucy Fisher through their Red Wagon banner. Jason Blum is
Roger Charlery, aka Ranking Roger, the singer and toaster from the English Beat, General Public and Special Beat, died today after a battle with cancer, a rep for the band confirmed to Variety. He was 56. The group, which has existed in several different forms over the years, issued a statement on its social media
The shocking Jussie Smollett saga took another twist on Tuesday after prosecutors announced they have dropped all charges against the “Empire” star. Smollett had been indicted on 16 counts of filing a false police report, but now that those counts have all disappeared, studio 20th Century Fox finds itself in a sticky situation as to
Elisabeth Hasselbeck, who returned to “The View” on Tuesday to promote her new book, criticized her former co-host Rosie O’ Donnell for recent comments in which she claimed that the two had a mutual crush on each other during their time on the daytime series. O’Donnell’s comments appeared in the upcoming “Ladies Who Punch: The
Like so many other stories these days, the Jussie Smollett legal saga seemed governed not by coherent logic, but by chaos, and, in its absence of narrative, invites any observer to find in it the story they prefer hearing. Smollett, the “Empire” star who had been in legal jeopardy due to allegations of staging a
Carol Burnett’s bestseller “Carrie and Me: A Mother-Daughter Love Story” is in the works as a movie at Focus Features with Burnett, Tina Fey, Eric Gurian, and Steven Rogers producing. Burnett will produce through her Mabel Cat Productions with Fey and Gurian under their production banner Little Stranger along with Rogers (“I, Tonya”). The sibling
Leaders of the Writers Guild of America have sent members contingency plans for the possible expiration of its agency franchise agreement on April 7 — and admitted that it may be a rocky road. Members received the letter Tuesday from the guild’s negotiating committee as the WGA and agents were about the hold their seventh
UPDATED: The fallout from Friday’s premiere of Netflix’s few-holds-barred Motley Crue biopic, “The Dirt,” began even before the film, which focuses on the quartet’s ‘80s-‘90s decade of decadence, was released. The group’s ill treatment of many women in their orbit is a matter of public record, and is depicted both seriously and unsettlingly light-heartedly in
Entertainment One and Universal Pictures Home Entertainment have signed a multi-year, multi-territory distribution agreement. UPHE will serve as the home entertainment distributor of eOne’s offerings across both physical and digital formats. The pact covers film, television, and select family content and includes all sales, marketing, and distribution, spanning the U.S., Canada, U.K., Germany, Spain, Australia,
March 26, 2019 12:43PM PT WASHINGTON — Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.), in the midst of his presidential bid, will speak at the Human Rights Campaign’s Los Angeles dinner on Saturday. Among those being honored at the event will be Christina Aguilera and Yeardley Smith (the voice of Lisa Simpson on “The Simpsons”), while artists Betty
Univision and satcaster Dish Network have reached a carriage agreement after a nine-month blackout that marked one of the longest standoffs between a major programmer and distributor. Univision channels went dark on Dish Network’s satellite and streaming platforms on June 30. The sides were at odds over carriage fees that have become increasingly contentious for
March 26, 2019 12:11PM PT Brad Falchuk is joining Ryan Murphy at Netflix. Falchuk and his Brad Falchuk Teley-Vision banner have signed an overall deal with the streamer, which sources say is for four years and worth eight figures. He is currently set up under a deal at 20th Century Fox Television, with that deal
March 26, 2019 11:59AM PT The AFI Conservatory and the Will & Jada Smith Family Foundation have partnered to launch the second annual Young Women in Film Intensive. The AFI Campus in Los Angeles will host 45 high school girls for an eight-week filmmaking workshop, where students will receive mentorship from current fellows and working
“Darkwood” is the sort of game you might not expect to find on the Nintendo Switch: It’s dark, violent, and immensely unsettling. But the top-down survival horror title is also an excellent fit for the platform, the sort of evocative experience that a player can methodically pick at in short stints, or sink into for
BMG announced solid earnings for 2018 — its tenth year since the “new” BMG opened for business after its previous incarnation merged with Sony Music — as part of parent company Bertlesmann’s results Tuesday. According to the announcement, despite “negative exchange rate effects,” BMG’s revenues increased by 7.5 percent to €545 million (around $644 million),
TF1, France’s top commercial network, is joining forces with Netflix for the first time to co-finance “Le Bazar de la Charité,” a high-profile period series inspired by a real-life tragedy and written by Catherine Ramberg (“The Source”) and Karine Spreuzkouski. Co-produced by Quad Télévision and TF1, the eight-part series unfolds in Paris in November 1897
Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel blasted the decision by Cook County prosecutors to drop charges Tuesday against “Empire” actor Jussie Smollett. Flanked by Chicago Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson and Kevin Graham, the president of the Chicago police union, the mayor said the decision sends a message that high-profile people will not be held accountable for their
Toni Collette, Jessie Buckley, and David Thewlis are joining the cast of Netflix’s film “I’m Thinking of Ending Things,” sources tell Variety. Charlie Kaufman is writing and directing the movie, which stars Jesse Plemons. Based on Ian Reid’s 2016 novel, “I’m Thinking of Ending Things” follows Jake (Plemons), a man going on a road trip
The folklore of Mesoamerica will come to life in Cartoon Network’s colorful new series “Victor and Valentino,” which premieres in the U.S. and Latin America on Saturday, March 30. The series follows the antics of the titular half-brothers as they learn to get along while unraveling the mysteries of the quirky little town of Monte
March 26, 2019 11:00AM PT Emmy-nominated “Hannibal” actor Hugh Dancy will star opposite his wife Claire Danes in “Homeland” season eight, Variety has learned. Dancy will appear in the recurring guest role of John Zabel, a savvy Washington consultant who joins the White House as a new foreign-policy advisor to the President and a formidable opponent
At the finish line of its sale to 1091 Media, distributor the Orchard’s film and TV head Paul Davidson is parting ways with the company. In an amicable split, the creative executive addressed staff in person and in a company-wide memo on Tuesday in New York City to inform them of his decision. “While I
March 26, 2019 10:41AM PT Viacom shares soared 10% on Tuesday after the company reaffirmed financial guidance for its media networks wing on the heels of sealing a hard-fought carriage renewal agreement with AT&T’s DirecTV. The stock gain underscored the importance of maintaining its presence on DirecTV and other AT&T channel bundles. Viacom on Tuesday
March 26, 2019 10:39AM PT T-Mobile is once again giving its customers free access to MLB.tv, Major League Baseball’s streaming service. The telco began giving away access to the streaming service Tuesday; anyone interested in signing up has until April 1 to do so. MLB.tv allows subscribers to stream regular season games on mobile and