Facebook Watch has signed video partnerships with France’s Le Monde, Germany’s Axel Springer and Sweden’s Expressen, among other news outlets, to deliver original content and continue building a globally diverse slate. “The internet has fundamentally changed how news publishers reach their audiences. We know that shows by established publishers resonate with people on Watch,” Jesper
Tech
Amazon is revamping its Fire TV Cube streaming device, and has partnered with a number of consumer electronics companies for Fire TV-powered devices. In addition to smart TVs, this also for the first time includes a smart soundbar that doubles as a Fire TV streamer. The new Fire TV Cube looks pretty much like its
Glen Basner lives to make deals. Be it Toronto or Cannes, Sundance or AFM, you’ll find the FilmNation founder in the throes of negotiations over pricing and marketing plans, schmoozing and working every angle to nail the best pact. Director Armando Iannucci, who worked with FilmNation on the upcoming “The Personal History of David Copperfield,”
Variety will partner with IFP for the first 10 Storytellers to Watch event, honoring breakout storytellers including podcasters, novelists, lyricists, playwrights, graphic novelists and brand storytellers. The event will also host a conversation with Patti Smith, who will receive the Impact in Storytelling honor. The luncheon celebration will be held in New York City on
September 4, 2019 8:02AM PT Major League Baseball is working with Japan’s NTT, a global technology and business consulting firm, on a new, highly immersive video experience for baseball fans — which they claim will be like being in person at a game. Under the multi-year technology partnership, the organizations are working to use NTT’s
LiveXLive Media has named Rahman Dukes head of urban programming, the company announced today. In this role he will create, develop and produce urban programming across LiveXLive’s video and audio platforms. LiveXLive is a global digital media company focused on live entertainment. Dukes, who played a key role in LiveXLive’s inaugural LiveZone at its Rolling
A year after its first foray into the home audio market, Roku is back with 2 new products that promise to marry TV streaming with smart sound: A $180 soundbar that doubles as a Roku video streaming device, and a $180 Roku subwoofer to add some bass to either the soundbar or the company’s bookshelf
Just over two weeks before its Sept. 20 global launch, Netflix has dropped its first full franchise trailer of “Criminal,” a 12-episode, four-part police interrogation anthology which reworks the procedural format taking it to a new European level, while focusing on what episodic drama is often held to disdain: Character and actors’ performance. Netflix has
September 3, 2019 9:08PM PT In this week’s edition of the Variety Movie Commercial Tracker, powered by the always-on TV ad measurement and attribution company iSpot.tv, Twentieth Century Fox claims the top spot in spending with “Ad Astra.” Ads placed for the sci-fi film had an estimated media value of $4.71 million through Sunday for
YouTube said its hate-speech crackdown resulted in a spike in videos and channels purged during the second quarter of 2019 — although critics say hateful content continues to be a problem on the video platform. In June, the Google-owned video giant announced an update to its hate-speech policy that banned videos “alleging that a group
CAA signed Xenia Tchoumi, a Russian-born Swiss-Italian fashion influencer, model, digital entrepreneur and public speaker, for representation in all areas. Tchoumi, 32, has more than 8 million followers across social media platforms, including 5.7 million on Facebook and 1.5 million on Instagram. With a passion for female empowerment, she has delivered motivational TEDx talks while
September 3, 2019 9:55AM PT TiVo’s next-generation DVR, dubbed the TiVo Edge, is not so secret anymore: Some box art unearthed by Zatznotfunny.com this past weekend reveals both the design as well as most key features of the device. The TiVO Edge, which Variety first reported on in June, looks a bit like a PlayStation
Atlas V, the leading French VR production company behind the Venice-competing “BattleScar,” “Gloomy Eyes” and “Ex Anima Experience,” is getting ready to diversify with the launch of international sales and distribution activities. Boasting of the largest libraries of premium VR, 360 and immersive content in Europe, Atlas V will distribute those three Venice titles along
HTC VIVE, the VR unite of Taiwan’s tech giant HTC which has a record five original VR works competing at Venice, is joining forces with the one-year old Taiwan Creative Content Agency (TAICCA) to launch a grant dedicated to VR international co-productions. The new initiative was announced during the Taiwan Immersive Lineup party hosted by
Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey’s Twitter account was hacked Friday afternoon, with the infiltrators tweeting numerous racial slurs as well as a bomb threat. Tweets from the hackers began shortly before 1 p.m. Friday and were removed after about 20 minutes. The hackers also retweeted a number of other offensive messages, including one stating that “Nazi
The Keanussance continues. Keanu Reeves made a surprise appearance at E3 in June, announcing that “The Matrix” star would be appearing in the upcoming role-playing video game “Cyberpunk 2077” as a non-playable character named Johnny Silverhand. And in a deep-dive video shown at the PAX West conference on Friday, attendees got a few more details
Hackers were able to break into thousands of iPhones by combining a number of iOS vulnerabilities, Google’s Project Zero security project revealed late Thursday. The hack was carried out via dedicated websites; simply visiting those sites with an iPhone or iPad could result in hackers installing malware on those devices, which they could then use
Anti-homelessness group The Next Amendment is combining mixed media storytelling with augmented reality (AR) for a new installation and documentary that is premiering at the Venice Film Festival this week. The group exclusively shared a trailer for the piece with Variety. “These Sleepless Nights” lets viewers explore a 4-part mini-documentary with Magic Leap AR headsets
August 29, 2019 9:13AM PT Apple will officially unveil its new smart phones on September 10: The iPhone maker sent out invites to media Thursday morning, asking them to join the company for “a special event” in Cupertino that day. Apple hasn’t shared any details about its upcoming phone line-up ahead of the event, but
Before there was “Saturday Night Live,” the legendary sketch show that upended television comedy, there was the National Lampoon Radio Hour. The radio show is credited with launching the careers of John Belushi, Bill Murray, Christopher Guest, Gilda Radner, and Chevy Chase, key members of the early casts of the late night program. Now, some
Get ready for yet another ad-supported video service: Media center app maker Plex is gearing up to add free movies and TV shows to its app, starting with content from Warner Bros. Plex announced a deal with Warner Bros. Domestic Television Distribution Thursday, which will allow it to add a still-unspecified amount of the studio’s
YouTube is following through on its promise to take down its paywall for some of its original content, starting with its hit show “Cobra Kai.” The entire first season of the series, which is based on the “Karate Kid” story, became available to watch for free to the service’s global audience Thursday. Season 2 of
MADRID —New school term, new mystery. Beautiful young bodies still make out, in ever more surprising combinations, in “Elite” Season 2. But there are greater depths and ambition to the Netflix Spanish high-school hit, if the first two episodes of Season 2 and a Madrid press conference involving cast and creators are anything to go
Multi-territory Asian streaming service Viu and pay-TV leader HBO Asia have given a green light to the second season of “The Bridge,” their regional adaptation of Endemol Shine’s Swedish drama series. Viu is also expanding its slate of originals with Thailand’s “My Bubble Tea.” A 10-episode second season of “The Bridge,” will begin shooting this
One of the co-founders of Oculus VR has been accused of groping a young woman during a VR demo. Autumn Rose Taylor alleges that Michael Antonov put his hand up her skirt after offering her a demo at his apartment. Taylor, who is the marketing director of Owlchemy Labs, made the allegation on Twitter on
Ad-supported streaming service Tubi is coming to Australia: The free video service will go live down under on September 1, and feature a catalog of close to 7000 movies and TV show episodes. Some of the movies available at launch will include “3:10 to Yuma,” “The Blair Witch Project,” “Kickboxer” and “Stranger Than Fiction.” In
August 28, 2019 9:14AM PT Telltale Games, the studio behind the “Walking Dead” video game as well as Netflix’s “Minecraft: Storymode Adventure” series, is being brought back to life by two game industry veterans, Polygon was first to report Wednesday. The studio’s assets have been purchased by Jamie Ottilie and Brian Waddle, two game industry
August 28, 2019 5:42AM PT In this week’s edition of the Variety Movie Commercial Tracker, powered by the always-on TV ad measurement and attribution company iSpot.tv, Warner Bros. claims the top spot in spending with “The Goldfinch.” Ads placed for the drama had an estimated media value of $2.97 million through Sunday for 441 national
Major label-owned Vevo has struck a partnership with smart TV operating system provider Vewd to bring music videos to TiVo DVRs as well as smart TVs from manufacturers like Sony, Hisense and Philips. The two companies have struck a global distribution deal, meaning that Vevo content will reach consumers in North America, Europe, Latin America
Filmmakers and cinephiles alike have long taken issue with motion smoothing and other forms of video post-processing on modern-day TVs. Developed for more fluid video-game play, motion smoothing is being blamed for ruining the cinematic look of movies and TV shows. Now, the industry has united to make it easier for consumers to watch their