R. Kelly Hey, Judge … I Need Back In My Studio Late-Night 2/7/2019 11:44 AM PST EXCLUSIVE R. Kelly wants back in his studio, and he wants to work late-night hours — ’cause that’s when his creative juices flow the best … according to new legal docs. The singer filed paperwork in Chicago Thursday as part
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February 7, 2019 12:16PM PT Universal Pictures has signed a first-look deal with 14-year-old “Black-ish” star Marsai Martin and her Genius Productions company. The first Genius Productions film under the deal is the comedy “StepMonster,” in which Martin will star as a teenager adjusting to life with a new stepmother. Martin began working as an
February 7, 2019 12:00PM PT Netflix is bringing smart downloads to its iOS app: The streaming service’s iPhone and iPad apps will now automatically download the next episode of a show when users have finished watching a downloaded episode. “The faster our members can get to the next episode of their favorite stories, the better,”
February 7, 2019 11:16AM PT No name is not an especially small bar, but its stage is jammed into a corner to the right of the entrance, and while the proprietors have gussied it up with purple velour curtains and some eye-catching light fixtures, there’s a roadhouse vibe that will probably remind anyone performing there
Roadside Attractions has acquired North American rights to Nick Broomfield’s documentary “Marianne & Leonard: Words of Love,” which premiered last month at the Sundance Film Festival. Broomfield’s film focuses on the love story between the late Canadian folk singer Leonard Cohen and his Norwegian muse, Marianne Ihlen. The announcement was made Thursday by Roadside co-founders
February 7, 2019 10:48AM PT After R. Kelly tweeted (and then deleted) his announcement of new international tours, Australian politicians swiftly called to block the R&B artist from entering the country. Members of the opposition Labor Party released a statement about Kelly, saying, “Labor strongly supports the refusal or cancellation of visas of non-citizens on character
February 7, 2019 10:34AM PT Venice-based Autlook Filmsales has boarded sales on “A Dog Called Money,” Seamus Murphy’s documentary about award-winning British musician PJ Harvey. The film is in the Panorama sidebar and will have its world premiere on 9 Feb. Photo journalist and filmmaker Murphy accompanied Harvey on trips to Afghanistan, Kosovo, and Washington
Greta Van Fleet’s embrace of all things Led Zeppelin has prompted some to declare the Michigan group reductive. But earning four Grammy noms (best new artist, rock album, rock performance and rock song), competing against the likes of Weezer, St. Vincent and the late Chris Cornell, has silenced many naysayers. Bassist Sam Kiszka spoke to
Following are the top music industry companies and executives that are part of the R&B resurgence: Atlantic Records Atlantic Records played a huge role in bringing the original rhythm and blues to the mainstream in the 1950s and ’60s, and it’s carried that tradition into the present thanks to the power trio of co-chairs Craig
The Super Bowl ended days ago. Are you ready for some football? Charlie Ebersol hopes so. He will this Saturday kick off a new era of professional spring football, even though the recent history of U.S. sports is littered with scrapped attempts to give gridiron fans more of their favorite game. Ebersol – and TV
Why is R&B back? Because it was missed. Sometimes you want a melody. You want to look in the mirror and sing your heartache away. You can rap about it and that’s great, but there’s nothing like a fabulous R&B hook. R&B is ageless, like rock and country — it doesn’t matter how old you are.
February 7, 2019 10:00AM PT Christopher McQuarrie and Anthony Peckham have signed on to “The President Is Missing,” the drama series based on the novel of the same name by Bill Clinton and James Patterson currently in development at Showtime. McQuarrie will executive produce with Heather McQuarrie, Clinton, and Patterson. Peckham will write the adaptation
A master builder’s daring rescue, a mindreader with success on her mind, and a snowplow man’s revenge! Will you see ‘The LEGO Movie 2: The Second Part’, ‘What Men Want’, or ‘Cold Pursuit’ in theaters this weekend? ► Buy Your Tickets Now: https://www.fandango.com?cmp=MCYT_YouTube_Desc Tune-in to Weekend Ticket every Thursday to help you decide what to
This year’s broadcast pilot season is shaping up to be one of the leanest in recent memory as far as sheer numbers are concerned. Among ABC, CBS, The CW, Fox and NBC, 50 pilots have been ordered so far for the 2019-20 season. That number also includes two straight-to-series orders at Fox and one at
PodcastOne has a new CEO: Peter Morris, a media and entertainment exec who’s worked at Funny Or Die, Barstool Sports and Imax. In the new role, which Morris starts Thursday (Feb. 7), he will manage all day-to-day operations at the podcast network. He joins the management team led by founder and executive chairman Norm Pattiz
February 7, 2019 8:43AM PT Instagram is trying to get more people to watch longer-form video on IGTV: Starting Thursday, the app is adding IGTV previews that will appear in users’ primary feeds. Now, when users scroll through their Instagram feed, they’ll see when there’s a new video from someone they follow and will be
CBS News unveiled a new top executive structure, another sign of how Susan Zirinsky, the unit’s incoming president, intends to manage operations going forward. Kimberly Godwin was named executive vice president of news, with top editorial oversight of newsgathering around the world. Charles Pavlounis was given expanded duties as executive vice president of business development
February 7, 2019 8:33AM PT In a discouraging sign for the future of PledgeMusic, the financially challenged direct-to-fan platform advised artists to “suspend” their campaigns via an email, which was obtained by Variety late Wednesday. Representatives for five artists who have worked with the company in recent months confirmed they had received the email; one
With “The Kindness of Strangers,” which opens the Berlin Film Festival on Thursday evening, Danish writer-director Lone Scherfig said she felt an urgent need to respond to the current political and social turmoil around the globe in a positive way. “I thought it would make sense…to make a film that had light and hopefully leaves the audience
During her Wednesday concert in Los Angeles, singer Camila Cabello paid tribute to Black Lives Matter and the March For Our Lives campaign for gun control. She performed her song “Something’s Gotta Give” off her debut album, 2018’s “Camila.” While she sang, the big screen behind her showed footage of Black Lives Matter and March
Disney, YouTube, Hulu and Vice Media are returning for the ninth annual Digital Content NewFronts marketing event series in New York City this spring, which keeps the one-week format adopted last year. Interactive Advertising Bureau, the trade group that runs the NewFronts, announced the NYC lineup, which will run Monday, April 29, to Friday, May 3.
American singer Pink is set to become the first international star to receive the Brit Awards’ special prize for outstanding contribution to music. The star, whose real name is Alecia Moore, will be presented with the honor at this year’s Brit Awards ceremony on Feb. 20 at London’s O2 Arena. The news comes just days
Dave Matthews and Kacey Musgraves were among those feting Willie Nelson — Matthews in song, Musgraves in a speech — at the first official pre-Grammy event of the week Wednesday night. The occasion was the 12th annual gathering of the Recording Academy’s Producers & Engineers Wing, where Nelson was accepting a lifetime achievement honor in a
February 7, 2019 7:18AM PT WASHINGTON — CreativeFuture, the industry-led coalition of content creators, sent a letter to all members of the new Congress calling for greater oversight of major internet platforms. The letter is not advocating for any specific piece of legislation, but comes amid an environment of greater scrutiny of tech companies. The
Guy Webster, whose photographs adorned album covers and billboards for acts like The Rolling Stones, The Mamas and The Papas, The Beach Boys, The Doors and Simon & Garfunkel, has died, his daughter Sarah Webster confirmed to Variety. He was 79. According to Harvey Kubernik, Webster’s biographer, he had been suffering from diabetes and liver
Check out the official Pet Sematary trailer starring Jason Clarke! Let us know what you think in the comments below. ► Buy Tickets to Pet Sematary: https://www.fandango.com/pet-sematary-2019-214905/movie-overview?cmp=MCYT_YouTube_Desc US Release Date: April 5, 2019 Starring: Jason Clarke, John Lithgow, Amy Seimetz Directed By: Kevin Kölsch, Dennis Widmyer Synopsis: Louis Creed, his wife Rachel and their two
With each new revelation to make headlines since the #MeToo movement first rocked Hollywood in 2017, film and TV industries around the globe have faced their own reckoning about sexual harassment, gender parity and equal opportunities for women both on and off screen. That debate has had ripple effects across sub-Saharan Africa as well, where
Following on the heels of two successful editions, the Berlinale Africa Hub returns to its site beside the historic Martin-Gropius-Bau, offering a glimpse of trends emerging in the growing pan-African film market with a wide-ranging slate of presentations and panel discussions taking place from Feb. 8-13. For industry insiders well-versed in the large, diverse and
February 7, 2019 4:58AM PT British police drama “Bergerac” is being primed for a reboot for Paramount Network International. U.K. production companies Artists Studios, which is backed by Endemol Shine U.K., and Westward Studios, which is based on Jersey where the show is set, are developing the project as a potential future commission for Paramount’s
Twitter beat Wall Street financial expectations for fourth-quarter 2018, but the company’s stock fell on a weak Q1 revenue outlook — and after Twitter said it’s going to stop reporting monthly user counts, in favor of “monetizable” daily active users. The social network’s Q4 revenue totaled $909 million, up 24% year-over-year, with video ads again