Tech

Tracee Ellis Ross is executive producing a new podcast she says will celebrate true-life stories of heroism, inclusion and community — while dispelling misconceptions about the American identity. The 10-episode “I Am America” is slated to be released in early 2022. It’s being produced with Dear Media, the podcast network founded in 2018 with a

Snap, as part of staffing up teams for its TikTok-like Snapchat Spotlight user-generated content initiative, has hired two executives from ByteDance’s TikTok: Sam Corrao Clanon and Varshini Satish. Corrao Clanon (above right) has joined Snap as director of content, focusing on Spotlight. In the newly created position, Corrao Clanon oversees the company’s Community team and

Kirk Iwanowski, after serving as chief marketing officer of Epix for nearly 10 years, has left the MGM-owned premium entertainment network to join video search and analytics vendor AnyClip. Iwanowski exited Epix in January, prior to Amazon’s announcement last month of its $8.5 billion deal to acquire MGM. At AnyClip, Iwanowski’s first initiative has been

Premiering on Wednesday at both NewImages and Tribeca festivals, the motion-capture VR experience “Jailbirds: Bwa Kayiman” follows a pair of inmates, locked in a bleak and cheerless prison and lorded over by a spiteful warden. Though the slight Booker (Elliot Delage) suffers from all the warden’s cruelties, the hulking Felix (Barry Johnson) lives in unexpected

Some of the world’s biggest online media platforms including The New York Times, The Guardian and Le Monde, have been temporarily taken offline. A cause is not yet known, but it’s thought a server outage could be at play. Users trying to access sites such as The New Yorker, The Independent and the Financial Times’

Running June 9-13, this year’s NewImages Festival will mark its fourth edition with a robust slate of world premieres and an ever-expanding industry program. Whereas last year’s lockdowns forced the festival to push its third edition to September, this year finds the NewImages festival returning to its traditional June berth. Taking place as a hybrid

Cannes XR, NewImages Festival and Tribeca Festival have partnered to create XR3, a virtual exhibition space that will host a selection of 50 XR projects from the three festivals’ programs. Set to launch on Wednesday – the opening day for this year’s Tribeca and NewImages editions – the digital exhibition will be available via the

When planning this year’s festivities, the team at NewImages Festival – which celebrates XR in all its diversity – did not want to sit on their hands, waiting for the public to find them. “We don’t want to hold any old event,” says festival director Michaël Swierczynski. “We want to fully occupy the space [around

“BuzzFeed Unsolved,” the long-running online documentary series starring Shane Madej and Ryan Bergara, is coming to an end after five years. The eighth and final season of “BuzzFeed Unsolved: True Crime” will premiere Friday, June 18, at 3 p.m. PT on the show’s YouTube channel. That will be followed by the fall 2021 release of

Facebook will not take a cut of revenue from creators who make money on its platforms until 2023, CEO and cofounder Mark Zuckerberg announced. And Zuckerberg promised that when Facebook does begin collecting a cut of revenue from creators, it will be less than the 30% that Apple and others take (although he didn’t specify

Comedian Katt Williams has thrown his take on cancel culture into the ring — and he doesn’t think it’s all that bad. On an episode of the Joe Budden Podcast that released on June 4, Williams discussed his upcoming film, “The House Next Door: Meet the Blacks 2,” and the conversation soon turned to comedy

UTA has taken a number of measures to amplify and support queer voices both internally and externally. In addition to updating their logos on social media to celebrate pride month, UTA Proud hosted a series of internal events that recognized queer visibility, equality and freedom of expression. Their latest virtual event on Friday — titled

A podcast dramatizing the 1982 murder of Vincent Chin, a Chinese American engineer, has been removed from audio platforms by producers — after Chin’s family members and an activist involved in the case said they were not consulted about the project. The “Hold Still, Vincent” podcast, whose producers included Gemma Chan (“Eternals,” “Crazy Rich Asians”),

The U.K. Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) and the European Commission have launched probes into Facebook’s use of data for online classified ads and dating, and whether an unfair advantage is at play. The social media giant collects data from its digital advertising services — which allow other businesses to advertise to Facebook users —

China is notorious for dialing up its internet censorship as the June 4 anniversary of the deadly Tiananmen Square crackdown approaches. Each year, its censors go into high alert to wipe out any direct, indirect or disguised references to the 1989 incident, during which the People’s Liberation Army fired upon peaceful democracy protestors in the

Twitter announced the initial launch Twitter Blue — its new subscription service for power users, priced around $3 per month — in Canada and Australia. But while the social network promises that Twitter Blue subscribers will get access to “premium features that give them more customization” over their Twitter experience, the service will still include

Roku is debuting an entertainment show designed to give the company a new bucket of ad inventory to sell, as well as a vehicle to promote streaming content on its platform. “Roku Recommends” is a 15-minute weekly entertainment program that will feature the Top 5 trending or topical titles (either on The Roku Channel or

As its 2019 concert with Taylor Swift, Dua Lipa, SZA and Becky G shows, Amazon Music does not half-step for its Prime Day entertainment — and even in these concert-challenged times, they’re delivering this year: Billie Eilish, H.E.R. and Kid Cudi will star in the Prime Day Show, a “three-part immersive musical event” presented by

An Israeli web host company Wix.com initially complied with a Hong Kong police notice to close a pro-democracy website 2021hkcharter.com that is linked to Nathan Law, a political activist. The move came on the eve of the June 4 anniversary of the Tiananmen Square incident. However, hours later, Wix backtracked and reinstated the website. “The

JoJo Siwa, the 18-year-old internet sensation who came out in January, will soon star in the movie “Bounce,” an adaptation of Megan Shull’s popular young adult novel of the same name. If Paramount Players gives “Bounce” the greenlight, it would begin filming in the fall for a 2022 release. But in a recent Entertainment Weekly

John Mulaney has added 10 new dates to his ongoing standup tour, which he kicked off at Manhattan’s City Winery in May. Now, he’s headed to Boston’s Wilbur Theater for a week-long stint from Aug. 14-21. The former SNL writer, best known for his Emmy-winning 2018 stand-up special “Kid Gorgeous,” is debuting new material in

Sean Mills, head of original content at Snap, is leaving after six years with Snapchat’s parent company. With his departure, Vanessa Guthrie, director of content at Snap who has teamed with Mills in creating originals since 2016, will run the Snap Originals team. Guthrie will report to Ben Schwerin, who was promoted to senior VP

Hollywood has spent the past week trying to imagine how Amazon will integrate MGM after its $8.5 billion acquisition of the legendary studio is complete. Did Amazon overpay? What is the fate of MGM film chief Michael De Luca? How much will MGM TV chief Mark Burnett pocket in the sale? (The answer: enough to

All products and services featured by Variety are independently selected by Variety editors. However, Variety may receive a commission on orders placed through its retail links, and the retailer may receive certain auditable data for accounting purposes. Every shopper’s favorite holiday is officially upon us. Amazon announced today that Amazon Prime Day, the annual deals

Netflix has struck a new long-term exclusive agreement with BMG for the management and administration of its music publishing rights worldwide outside the U.S., the companies announced on Wednesday. The companies forged a similar deal in 2017. Under the arrangement, BMG will serve as Netflix’s exclusive music partner outside the U.S., handling rights and royalties

The UBIK performance art space at WORM in Rotterdam is the venue to four VR works at International Film Festival Rotterdam, two of which have been created by novices to the medium. Featured in the festival’s Art Directions program, which aims to unite art and cinema, “To Miss the Ending” from U.K. duo Anna West

Pharrell Williams, H.E.R. and Opal Lee are set to speak at Variety‘s virtual Changemakers Summit, which will feature keynote and panel conversations highlighting individuals who are advancing equality and elevating underrepresented voices within the entertainment industry. The two-day event will take place June 17-18. The summit will be kicked off with a keynote conversation featuring

The ongoing war of words between Twitter and the government of India has just kicked up a notch, with the government firing a strongly worded broadside against the social media platform. The saga began in February over ongoing farmers’ protests around the Indian capital Delhi, supported by the likes of Rihanna and Greta Thunberg, which

Reel Works honored industry leaders who are paving the way in terms of diversity and representation during its virtual 20th anniversary gala on May 26. Hosted by “Hamilton” star Bryan Terrell Clark, “Insecure” star Issa Rae was honored with a Changemaker award along with the inclusion rider trio of Fanshen Cox, Tasmin Plater and Kalpana

China’s local mobile gaming revenue grew 31% year-on-year to $29.2 billion in 2020, notching the highest annual growth rate since 2017, according to market research firm and consultancy Niko Partners. China’s export game revenue actually grew even more than local game revenue, rising 36.7% last year. After COVID-19 prompted the Chinese government to impose lengthy