March 12, 2020 4:42PM PT Trustees of the SAG-AFTRA Health Plans have announced that there will be no charge for coronavirus testing for participants in the plans. The plans will waive all copays, deductibles and coinsurance for COVID-19 testing at in-network facilities, making it free for participants. This includes any fees for office visits or
Movies
Film and television production in the Los Angeles area is facing restrictions due to impact of the coronavirus pandemic, the FilmL.A. permitting agency reported on Thursday. “The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health cautions that the cancellation or modification of public events may be necessary to counter a significant community spread of COVID-19,” FilmL.A.
NBCUniversal and Amazon are recommending their employees to work from home, effective immediately, to curb the spread of coronavirus. In Thursday communications to staff, the conglomerates observed rapidly escalating closures of businesses, select film festivals, live events and other highly-trafficked scenarios where the disease might spread. All of Amazon’s corporate offices, including Culver City-based Amazon
Paradigm Talent Agency is closing its offices starting Friday, sources tell Variety. There is no timeframe of when they will be reopened but sources say it will be at least a couple of weeks Besides Los Angeles, this includes the New York, Nashville, Monterey, Calif., Chicago and Toronto offices. The news comes after CAA, UTA
March 12, 2020 2:03PM PT Walt Disney Studios has made made two significant promotions to bolster its film group, following the exit of 20th Century Studios vice chairman Emma Watts in January. Steve Asbell, 20th’s executive vice president of production, has been promoted to president. He will report directly to Walt Disney Studios co-chairman and
March 12, 2020 2:49PM PT Disney has postponed the theatrical release of “Mulan” amid growing concerns over coronavirus. The studio has also removed “The New Mutants” and “Antlers” from its slate. All three movies have been delayed indefinitely as Disney looks for new release dates. “Mulan” was slated to debut in North America on March
Tribeca Film Festival will no longer be taking place next month. The 19th annual event for independent film was set for April 15 through April 26, but has been postponed because of coronavirus. No new dates have been announced. “We founded the Tribeca Film Festival as a way to heal our community after the devastation
French president Emmanuel Macron announced in a televised speech on Thursday the shutdown of schools, universities and colleges across the country starting on March 16 for an undetermined amount of time. Macron also called coronavirus the “biggest health crisis that France has known in a century.” While Macron did not use the word “quarantine” in
Spyglass Media Group is developing a reboot of the horror franchise “Scream” and has attached “Ready or Not” directors Matthew Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett, Variety has learned. The original “Scream” debuted in 1996 with Neve Campbell starring as Sidney Prescott, the target of the Ghostface killer, with a look inspired by the Edvard Munch painting “The
A decade ago, screenwriter Scott Z. Burns pitched an idea to Steven Soderbergh for a disaster movie without any aliens or monsters. “Contagion,” as it would be called, involved a deadly global pandemic, and rather than cheap Hollywood thrills, he wanted the movie to be based on something much scarier – real scientific research. Soderbergh
IFC Films is acquiring U.S. rights to Sean Durkin’s “The Nest,” a drama with Jude Law and Carrie Coon that premiered at this year’s Sundance Film Festival. The film is Durkin’s follow-up to his acclaimed 2011 feature “Martha Marcy May Marlene.” It follows Rory (Law), a businessman with charm to spare and grand ambitions, as
March 12, 2020 8:58AM PT Slovakian director Ivan Ostrochovský’s sophomore feature is a brilliantly crafted, atmospherically enveloping seminary drama. “You have to understand, we’re not here to be happy,” a so-called spiritual adviser counsels one of his wards in a Catholic seminary — a rare moment of truth in the shadowy morass of governmental and
John Krasinski and Emily Blunt’s thriller “A Quiet Place Part II” has been delayed amid concerns around an escalating coronavirus pandemic. The film, which is released by Paramount Pictures, was slated to roll out internationally on March 18, with a U.K. debut scheduled for March 19 and a North American release set for March 20.
Pinewood Atlanta Studios, production home for Marvel’s “Avengers: Endgame” and “Avengers: Infinity War,” has launched plants for a 220,000 square-foot expansion that will be completed in the spring of 2022. The six-year-old facility, located south of Atlanta, currently occupies 700 acres and houses more than 50 production-related businesses. Its first movie production was “Ant-Man” and
The Copenhagen International Documentary Film Festival, known as CPH:DOX, will go digital this year in the wake of coronavirus concerns, the festival has announced. The festival had been due to run March 18-29 with over 700 screenings planned for a program of 220 films. While the physical screenings have had to be abandoned, festival organisers
March 11, 2020 9:00PM PT Warner Bros. executive Eric Broet has been upped to EVP of France and Benelux for the studio. In this new role, Broet continue reporting to Iris Knobloch, the president of Warner Bros. France and Benelux, and will lead the development of the studio’s strategy in France and Benelux. Broet will
The Directors Guild of America has announced it has cancelled non-critical group meetings and will limit or cancel future events due to the coronavirus epidemic. “The situation is quickly evolving, and we will continue to re-assess plans and communicate accordingly,” the DGA said in a message to members on its web site on Wednesday. The DGA, which
CinemaCon 2020 has been canceled by its organizers due to concern over the rapid spread of coronavirus. “It is with great regret we are announcing the cancellation of CinemaCon 2020,” said a statement from NATO’s John Fithian and Mitch Neuhauser. “Each spring, motion picture exhibitors, distributors and industry partners from around the world meet in
Members of the Silence Breakers – a group of women who have spoken out about sexual harassment and abuse that includes several Harvey Weinstein accusers – reacted with shock and elation after the former movie mogul was sentenced to 23 years in prison in a Manhattan courtroom on Wednesday morning. “This is a historic moment
Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson have announced that they have tested positive for COVID-19 (coronavirus), the first celebrities to go public with a diagnosis. Hanks and Wilson, both 63, revealed the news with a statement on Wednesday. The married couple was in Australia for production of Baz Luhrmann’s untitled Elvis Presley movie, in which Hanks
In today’s film news roundup, four film festivals have opted to pull the plug, the horror film “Infection” finds a home, Heidi Honeycutt gets hired and “Where the Crawdads Sing” gets a writer. CANCELLATIONS A quartet of mid-size film festivals announced Wednesday that they are calling off their events due to concerns over the coronavirus
March 11, 2020 4:00PM PT The true-life story of Christian music artist Jeremy Camp is the inspiration for an emotionally impactful romantic tragedy. Call it a faith-based tearjerker, and you won’t be far off the mark. Still, that blunt-spoken description of “I Still Believe” should be taken as not so much a dismissal of its
Kelly Reichardt’s signature minimalism permeates “First Cow,” a good-natured friendship tale — enmeshed with a subtle critique of capitalism — set in the mid-19th-century Oregon Territory. Based on Jonathan Raymond’s novel “The Half-Life,” the adaptation follows John Magaro’s recluse chef Cookie and Orion Lee’s immigrant runaway King Lu, two dreamers who launch a mischievously lucrative
Filmmaker Adam Barton’s “The Boy Who Sold The World” documentary was set to premiere this Sunday at SXSW. Two weeks ago, Barton thought there was a zero chance the film festival would be canceled and as each day passed, the odds went up. “I had a brief moment thinking it was going to be a
Los Angeles-based production-distribution house Cinema Libre Studio has acquired U.S. rights to Frédéric Choffat and Julie Gilbert’s “My Little One,” in the wake of its U.S. premiere at the Miami Film Festival. The deal was closed by Philippe Diaz, Cinema Libre Studio chairman and Loic Magneron, founder of Paris’ Wide Management, the film’s sales agent.
The Cannes Film Festival is rapidly assembling a contingency plan to keep the festival going. A spokesperson for the festival told Variety on Wednesday that preparations are being made to down-size the event and limit audiences in auditoriums and other festival venues — a strategy that could help the event get around a ban that
After Harvey Weinstein was sentenced to 23 years in prison Wednesday on charges of sexual assault and third degree rape, entertainment industry heavyweights were vocal in reacting to the powerful outcome that marked the downfall of a man who was once one of the most influential and powerful figures in Hollywood. Before his sentencing, Weinstein
SAG-AFTRA expanded its anti-harassment language in its corporate/educational and non-broadcast contract, explicitly banning auditions in hotel rooms, the union announced on Wednesday — the same day Harvey Weinstein was sentenced to 23 years in prison on charges of sexual assault and third-degree rape. The performers union has been dealing with workplace issues in the wake
India, Poland and some territories in the Middle East are the latest areas where movie theaters are rapidly being shuttered as the World Health Organization on Wednesday declared a global coronavirus pandemic. In India, individual states have begun closing moviegoing venues. On Tuesday, Pinarayi Vijayan, chief minister of the Southern Indian state of Kerala, which
The global entertainment market — consisting of theatrical and home entertainment — has surpassed $100 billion in revenues for the first time in history, with earnings reaching $101 billion in 2019, according to a new report released by the Motion Picture Association. Worldwide box office receipts accounted for $42.5 billion of that haul, setting a