Tech

The future is Web3 was the consensus at a high-powered panel discussing the subject at Hong Kong’s FilMart on Wednesday. Weighing in with their knowledge and experience were Evan Auyang, group president, Animoca Brands; Jenefer Brown, executive VP and head of global products and experiences, Lionsgate; Lucas Cheungmanaging partner, Hong Kong, Gusto Collective and Jaeson

Bruce Dixon and Hozefa Lokhandwala have been on the job for less than two weeks as co-CEOs of Vice Media Group. But despite the newness of their current roles, Lokhandwala and Dixon are already well versed in the inner workings of the Brooklyn-based company, having served for several years in senior roles under recently exited CEO Nancy

In the 24 hours following the start of the 2023 Oscars red carpet, Variety notched its highest-ever day of social traffic, racking up 122 million video views across platforms.  Top performing videos include Marc Malkin’s interview with Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson about the negative reviews that plagued “Black Adam” and fashion footage of stars like

UPDATED: Reddit was suffering an hours-long issue on Tuesday that made the popular discussion site inaccessible for many users — and the company didn’t have an ETA on when it will be resolved. In an update at 2:43 p.m. PT, Reddit’s status page said, “We’ve identified a fix which may take some time to implement,

J.K. Rowling said she knew her comments about trans women nearly three years ago would land like a “hand grenade” on Twitter but claimed that despite the backlash, “a ton of Potter fans were grateful that I’d said what I said.” “I absolutely knew that if I spoke out many people who would love my

Rhett & Link are taking shows produced by their Mythical entertainment company — including the hugely popular “Good Mythical Morning” — and packaging them in a TV-like, around-the-clock stream on Roku Channel. The duo’s Mythical launched Mythical 24/7, an always-on free, ad-supported streaming TV (FAST) channel with a curated feed of its shows, which include

Meta, parent company of Facebook and Instagram, is pink-slipping another 10,000 employees, coming on the heels of laying off 11,000 last fall. Mark Zuckerberg, Meta’s co-founder and CEO, announced the planned cuts in a memo to employees Tuesday as an “update on our Year of Efficiency.” The 10,000 layoffs represent 11.6% of the 86,482 full-time

“The Last of Us” has become the most-viewed title ever on HBO’s subscription streaming service in Europe. Warner Bros. Discovery announced on Tuesday that the first season of the nine-episode apocalyptic-drama has smashed HBO’s SVOD European viewer ratings. This result comes after the season one finale set another ratings high in the U.S. on Sunday

“There’s nowhere you can walk in this country that is not Native land,” said IllumiNative founder and executive director Crystal Echo Hawk at Rising Native Voices, the Variety and IllumiNative event in partnership with SXSW on Saturday. IllumiNative, which is a Native woman-run social justice organization, DIGA Studios and Madica Productions recently announced their documentary-style podcast

For Spotify, the creation of its artificial intelligence DJ — which launched in beta version for Premium subscribers in the U.S. and Canada on Feb. 22 — represents the culmination of what the company has been working toward for years. “This has always been a north star,” Ziad Sultan, the vice president of personalization at

Dubai-based CEO Sam Barnett leads the Middle East’s largest broadcaster MBC as it turbocharges its Shahid streaming service through a scripted content drive, and gives Netflix a run for its money. Shortly before the holy month of Ramadan, which is marathon TV time in the Arab world, Barnett spoke to Variety about the still crucial

Me want… nonfungible token? Sesame Workshop is introducing the first digital collectibles based on the iconic Sesame Street kids’ brand. The first NFTs from the initiative will feature Cookie Monster, the beloved blue cookie fiend from the show, with the initial drop scheduled for March 19 on the VeVe digital collectibles app. There will be

Playboy is relaunching its iconic magazine as a digital front-end for its recently launched platform that lets individual creators charge a monthly fee for access to exclusive content, similar to OnlyFans. The company ceased the print edition of the mag in March 2020, nearly 70 years after its debut. In the new iteration, select creator

Sarah Rosen, who left Twitter last year shortly after Elon Musk’s takeover over the social network, has joined Reddit as senior director of content partnerships. At Twitter, Rosen most recently was head of North America content partnerships, leading all efforts in the region across entertainment, news and sports. After eight and a half years at

Apple took home its first animated short Oscar for “The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse,” a magical fable featuring a star-studded voice cast and luxurious hand-drawn animation. The film won at the 95th Academy Awards over the category’s other nominees: Pamela Ribon and Sara Gunnarsdóttir’s buzzy “My Year of Dicks”; “The Flying

A new single, “Justice for All,” featuring former President Donald Trump, from the J6 Prison Choir, reached No. 1 on iTunes’ top songs on March 11.   The J6 Prison Choir is comprised of a group of men who were convicted after their participation in the attack on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. The

In the wake of the sudden collapse of Silicon Valley Bank, Wrapbook, a company that provides payroll services for TV and film productions, said payments submitted through its platform will be subject to delays. In messages to clients Friday, Wrapbook said payroll-processing delays caused by the failure of SVB — which came after a historic

About one-fourth of Roku’s cash and equivalents — nearly half a billion dollars — has been held in Silicon Valley Bank (SVB), which was shut down by financial regulators Friday after it collapsed. And the streaming platform company said it’s unsure how much of that cash it will recover. SVB, after it faced a run

After nearly 10 years on Netflix, comedy “New Girl” will be leaving the streaming service to get a new dual home on Hulu and Peacock. “New Girl” will be available on Hulu and Peacock beginning April 17, 2023. Under a shared agreement between Disney and NBCUniversal, Peacock and Hulu will share streaming rights to all

Meta, parent of Facebook and Instagram, said it is considering launching a new Twitter-like social network. “We’re exploring a standalone, decentralized social network for sharing text updates. We believe there’s an opportunity for a separate space where creators and public figures can share timely updates about their interests,” a Meta spokesperson said in a statement

Alex Jones, the Infowars far-right conspiracy figure who has been ordered to pay a staggering $1.5 billion to families of Sandy Hook victims over his lies about the deadly massacre, would receive a $520,000 yearly salary under a proposed bankruptcy plan his company submitted this week. Jones’ Free Speech Systems, which is the parent company

Verizon and Netflix — both looking to reel in new subscribers — are relaunching their special promotional offer giving the telco’s customers 12 months free of Netflix’s Premium plan. Starting March 12, Verizon wireless, 5G Home and LTE Home customers can get one year of Netflix’sPremium plan for no extra charge through Verizon’s +play subscription

Digital creator, podcaster and filmmaker Markiplier has signed an exclusive video partnership with Spotify for his two podcasts, “Distractible” and “Go! My Favorite Sports Team.” Video episodes of both podcasts will be available to stream on Spotify exclusively. Markiplier is set to debut additional exclusive video content on the platform. “Distractible,” which Markiplier hosts with

Hasan Minhaj’s Riddler is coming back to your earbuds. The comedian-actor made a virtual appearance at Spotify’s Stream On event Wednesday, announcing “The Riddler: Secrets in the Dark,” the next podcast series from Spotify, DC and Warner Bros. under their exclusive multiyear partnership. Minhaj had voiced The Riddler in 2022 hit Spotify podcast “Batman Unburied,”

Spotify is releasing what it calls its biggest app redesign to date — revealing a new “dynamic” mobile interface aimed at providing listeners a more active role in discovering new audio content and giving creators new ways to share their work. The newly redesigned Spotify app will roll out to users worldwide in waves, starting

Flawless, a VFX company specializing in generative AI dubbing technology for film, TV and commercials, hired 15-year Lionsgate veteran Jen Hollingsworth as chief commercial officer. Hollingsworth, who most recently served as COO of Lionsgate’s motion picture group, will oversee all commercial strategy at Flawless, which has offices in L.A. and London. She reports to Nick

IllumiNative, a national Native woman-led social justice organization is launching a documentary-style podcast, titled “American Genocide: The Crimes of Native American Boarding Schools,” to uncover a horrifying truth about one of the United States government’s best kept secrets. The podcast examines the atrocities and human rights violations committed against Native children at Native American boarding schools by

Roku announced that Dan Jedda, a 15-year veteran of Amazon and former CFO of Stitch Fix, will join the streaming platform company as chief financial officer effective May 1. He will report to Roku founder/CEO Anthony Wood. Jedda will succeed current CFO Steve Louden, who announced last year he would leave Roku. According to the

The Podcast Academy handed out the trophies to the winners of its third annual Awards for Excellence in Audio — aka The Ambies — on Tuesday evening. The winners included the Ambies’ Podcast of the Year: “Chameleon: Wild Boys,” which tells the incredible true story of two half-starved brothers who emerged from the wilderness to

Elon Musk, who acquired Twitter in a $44 billion, debt-laden deal a little over four months ago, said advertising revenue has dropped as much as 50% since he took over. But the mega-billionaire tech mogul said a few large advertisers have continued to spend with Twitter, and he specifically called out — and thanked —