Noel Clarke and Jason Maza’s Unstoppable Film and Television is partnering with film funding platform Genera on a £250,000 ($329,000) fund for the worldwide production of shorts. Clarke (“Adulthood”) and Maza’s (“Welcome to the Punch”) work spans film and TV production as well as acting – the pair recently appeared Sky’s buddy cop drama “Bulletproof.”
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September 26, 2018 7:00AM PT Smith Global Media has bought worldwide rights to the legal drama “Canal Street,” starring Bryshere Gray (“Empire”) and Mykelti Williamson. The film will open in North America on Jan. 18 over the Martin Luther King holiday weekend. The film screened at the American Black Film Festival. “Canal Street” is directed,
September 26, 2018 6:18AM PT Childish Gambino has postponed at least one date on his “This Is America” North American tour and possibly more, according to a tweet from his creative team. A rep for tour promoter Live Nation confirmed to Variety that the Sept. 26 Los Angeles Forum date is postponed to an unspecified
In the past few days, the Music Modernization Act — which will bring sweeping changes to outdated copyright laws — has passed both the Senate and the House of Representatives unanimously, and is now set to go to President Trump’s desk for signature. In this guest post, Recording Industry Association of America president Mitch Glazier reflects
You expect a movie starring Kevin Hart and Tiffany Haddish to have its share of highly combative verbal fireworks. And given that “Night School” was directed by Malcolm D. Lee, whose last picture, the deliriously raunchy and spirited “Girls Trip,” showcased Haddish as a one-woman comic hurricane (her character was a gale force of pithy
Larry Aidem, after more than three years at the helm of indie movie-streaming service Fandor, is departing to serve as managing partner of Reverb Advisors, a boutique technology investment and consulting firm. Aidem will continue to serve on Fandor’s board. The company has not named a replacement CEO for Aidem, who informed staff Monday that
Amid glimpses of possible progress in U.S.-North Korea relations, National Geographic has picked up U.S. rights to Monty Python star Michael Palin’s documentary special shot inside the secretive Asian country. Nat Geo plans to air “North Korea From the Inside With Michael Palin” in the U.S. on Sunday. The two-hour special will also play on Nat Geo’s
Riding a growth curve in TV advertising analytics, iSpot.tv announced an additional $30 million of investment capital. The Series C round in iSpot, founded in 2012, was led by existing investors Insight Venture Partners and Madrona Venture Group. It brings the total investment in the company to $57.8 million to date. Sean Muller, iSpot’s founder
September 26, 2018 3:48AM PT Starline has taken international rights to “The Cellar,” the crime thriller from Russian filmmaker Igor Voloshin (“Bedouin”). The picture is a three-way co-production between Slovakia’s Furia Film, Russia’s Gate Film, and the Czech Republic’s 8Heads Production. It was largely filmed in the Slovak Republic where it will be released this
Paris-based private equity firm Alliance Entreprendre (NATIXIS Groupe) has taken a minority stake in About Premium Content (APC) to allow the company to fast-track its growth. APC’s current drama slate includes Movistar Studios’s Spanish-language drama “Gigantes” (pictured), Vox Pictures’s English-language hit series “Keeping Faith,” Dutch crime thriller “Fenix” and the returning Swedish crime thriller “Alex.”
Harriet Walter, who appeared in “The Crown” and “Black Earth Rising,” and Frances O’Connor, who was Golden Globe nominated for “Madame Bovary” and “The Missing,” are set to star in “The End,” a co-production from pay TV companies Sky in the U.K. and Foxtel in Australia. The 10-part show is produced by the TV arm
September 26, 2018 2:17AM PT Eva Green (“Casino Royale”) and Eve Hewson (“The Knick”) will star in “The Luminaries,” the TV adaptation of Eleanor Catton’s award-winning novel. Marton Csokas (“Into the Badlands”) has also been cast in the upcoming six-parter, which will air on BBC Two in the U.K. and TVNZ in New Zealand. The
Global Screen has closed further sales deals for its 3D animated feature film “Marnie’s World,” which is close to selling out worldwide. The movie is written and directed by Oscar winners Christoph and Wolfgang Lauenstein. In the film, pampered pussycat Marnie is lured into becoming a secret agent. Marnie teams up with a bunch of
September 26, 2018 1:04AM PT The Philippines has selected “Signal Rock” as its contender in the foreign-language section of the upcoming Academy Awards. The film is directed by Chito Rono and stars Christian Bables and Elora Espano. The family drama documents how the population of Biri Island in the 1990s had to climb a high
“Crazy Rich Asians” will open in Japan this week with distributor Warner Japan betting that the film’s muscular box office in the U.S. and elsewhere will carry over to Asia’s second-largest market. But the odds are against a huge win. In mid-September, Warner revealed that it would expand the number of theaters showing the film
Bill Cosby Could Get Himself a Con Job in Prison … And Make $0.45/Hour!!! 9/26/2018 1:00 AM PDT EXCLUSIVE Bill Cosby could still work a room in the clink, but it won’t be in any comedic capacity — mostly just in kitchen duty and stitching s*** up for pennies … TMZ has learned. A Pennsylvania Dept.
September 26, 2018 12:40AM PT Netflix will give a worldwide release to Indian drama “Rajma Chawal. The film is set to have a theatrical premiere at October’s London Film Festival, before releasing online on Nov. 30. Set in the chaotic, vibrant Chandni Chowk area of Delhi, Rajma Chawal captures the relationship between a father attempting to reconnect
Lisa Vanderpump Isolating Herself From ‘RHOBH’ … Cast Members Pissed 9/26/2018 12:30 AM PDT EXCLUSIVE Lisa Vanderpump has totally disconnected herself from the rest of the ‘Real Housewives of Beverly Hills’ cast and her costars are ticked off … TMZ has learned. Our sources tell us Lisa is making almost zero effort to interact with the
Garrett Borns, known as indie rock artist BØRNS, is denying allegations of sexual misconduct, manipulation and harassment made by multiple young female fans. In tweets beginning Sept. 21, the women described meeting Borns at concerts — some when they were teenagers — which led to years-long conversations via Instagram and Snapchat messages that, according to the
Nothing spoils a family gathering quite like politics, and no movie has captured the way such debates can turn ugly quite like Ike Barinholtz’s “The Oath,” an impressively out-there feature debut in which no-win arguments over a divisive new government policy escalate into a full-blown hostage crisis, turning what should have been a mild-mannered Thanksgiving
SAN SEBASTIAN — San Sebastian’s Focus On initiative, now in its fourth year, invites industry professionals from a country, or countries, to expand their networking contacts and participate in industry activities. This year’s featured Focus On region is the Baltics, and the event is hosting representatives from Lithuania, Estonia and Latvia. The Baltics boast strong
A borderline impossible game of Taboo could be played if one were tasked with describing Olivier Masset-Depasse’s “Mothers’ Instinct” without using the word “Hitchcockian.” The Belgian director’s luxuriant psychological thriller is so redolent of the Master of Suspense’s style, and so gorgeously robed in Thierry Delettre’s ’60s costuming that at times one expects star Veerle
Triawan Munaf, chairman of the Indonesian Agency for Creative Economy (BEKRAF) was on hand on Monday for the opening of the Bali International Film Festival (Balinale). His presence was intended as a sign that Indonesia, Asia’s sleeping giant as a film player, is rousing itself. It was also an endorsement of the indie festival which,
September 25, 2018 7:55PM PT Merzak Allouache’s no-frills drama about a pair of young jihadists who bond before a potentially life-ending mission. Little is known about Nour and Amine, the two young jihadists assigned to sabotage a North African oil refinery in “Divine Wind,” a bare-bones drama from veteran Algerian director Merzak Allouache. The purpose
September 25, 2018 7:52PM PT In this week’s edition of the Variety Movie Commercial Tracker, powered by the TV advertising attention analytics company iSpot.tv, Twentieth Century Fox claims the top spot in spending with “Bad Times at the El Royale.” Ads placed for the thriller had an estimated media value of $5.16 million through Sunday
An energized crowd filled the street outside of the Regal Cinemas in downtown Los Angeles on Tuesday night, awaiting the arrival of comedy’s newest dynamic duo, Kevin Hart and Tiffany Haddish. The carpet at L.A. Live was transformed with back to school vibes, including lockers, a trophy case and the essence of a high school
SPOILER ALERT: Do not read if you have not yet watched “Nine Bucks,” the third season premiere of “This Is Us.” The third season premiere of “This Is Us” offered another glimpse at the future lives of Randall (Sterling K. Brown) and Tess (Iantha Richardson) and revealed what future Toby (Chris Sullivan) looks like — notably
In today’s TV Roundup, Showtime’s “The Circus” interviews Senator Patrick Leahy on the upcoming SCOTUS vote, and “The Daily Show” plans to go live to cover the midterm elections. FIRST LOOKS Showtime’s “The Circus” conducted an interview with Senator Patrick Leahy about the upcoming SCOTUS vote, and his thoughts on Brett Kavanaugh. “The Circus” is
September 25, 2018 5:15PM PT The filing alleges improper withholding of international streaming royalties. The estate of 1950s teen idol Rick Nelson hit Sony Music Entertainment with a class action lawsuit on Tuesday, alleging that it improperly withholds a portion of artists’ royalties from international streaming revenue. Rick Nelson LLC filed the complaint in U.S.
The Music Modernization Act has passed in the House of Representatives unanimously following a vote for passage in the Senate last week. This clears the way for the bill to be sent to President Trump’s desk for signature and with it will come the most sweeping changes to archaic copyright laws. Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT)