Tech

Ryan Wyatt, YouTube’s head of gaming, is leaving the video platform after seven years to join Polygon Technology, which provides developers a framework for building and connecting Ethereum-compatible blockchain networks. Also exiting YouTube are Heather Rivera, VP and global head of product partnerships, and Jamie Byrne, senior director of creator partnerships, Variety has confirmed. The

Daniel MacDonald, the creator known online as Daniel Mac who shot to fame on TikTok by asking luxury auto owners and celebrities “What do you do for a living?”, has signed with CAA for representation. MacDonald is one of the largest automotive and entrepreneurial content creators on TikTok, having amassed an audience of more than

YouTube is touting the explosive popularity of its TikTok-style short-form Shorts video feature — and says it’s going to test out new monetization features for YouTube Shorts creators. Since first launching YouTube Shorts in September 2020, the Google-owned video giant has served more than 5 trillion short-form videos, YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki wrote in a

Not everyone is happy that YouTube has hidden dislike counts for videos. But YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki says the harms of displaying the metric publicly outweighed the benefits. Wojcicki, in her quarterly letter to creators Tuesday, acknowledged that the removal of public dislike counts was “controversial” and that some YouTube users had told the platform that

DNEG, the visual effects and animation company whose credits include work on films “Dune,” “No Time to Die” and “Tenet,” plans to go public by merging with a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC). The proposed deal implies a combined company enterprise value of $1.7 billion. According to DNEG, the pact will make it the only

Neil Young has shared a message demanding his music be removed from Spotify, citing the streaming service’s distribution partnership with Joe Rogan and accusing Rogan’s podcast “The Joe Rogan Experience” of spreading false information regarding COVID-19 and vaccines. The musician posted an open letter to his official website on Monday evening, although it has since

“Euphoria” continues to reign over Variety’s Trending TV chart, hitting the top spot for the week of Jan. 17 – 23. This marks the third week in a row the HBO series has landed there with just as many episodes, as fans continue to dissect all of the onscreen drama in the show’s second season.

Laurence Fishburne and Daniel Dae Kim will star alongside Kerry Washington in the upcoming Audible and QCode original podcast drama series “Prophecy.” Washington is also executive producing under her Simpson Street banner, along with head of development Pilar Savone, marking the company’s first Audible original production. Washington announced the casting of Fishburne and Kim in

Cyndi Lauper’s music video for “Girls Just Want to Have Fun” officially crossed 1 billion views on YouTube — marking the iconic singer’s first entry onto the video platform’s billion-views club. Lauper’s recording of “Girls Just Want to Have Fun” was released in 1983 on her historic debut album, “She’s So Unusual,” becoming a breakthrough

John Lennon’s coat from the “Magical Mystery Tour” film, his cape from “Help!,” three guitars, and Paul McCartney’s handwritten arrangement notes for “Hey Jude” — all from John’s son Julian’s private collection — are going up for NFT auction on Feb. 7, the first in a series to be rolled out over the coming months.

Founded in February 2021, French startup Dark Matters is set to unveil Gaul’s first virtual production facility. Setting up camp 23 miles from Paris, the 180,000 square-foot studio will open its doors this coming April, offering the local industry five new soundstages equipped for both traditional production and the LED-backed virtual sets made famous by

A viral fundraising effort to honor the legacy of Betty White — a lifelong animal lover and outspoken advocate for animal welfare — encouraging donations to benefit shelters and rescue operations has raised $12.7 million on Facebook and Instagram, according to parent company Meta. On Jan. 17, which would have been White’s 100th birthday, Meta

Kelly Campbell, the ex-Hulu chief who now serves as president of Peacock, recruited her former Hulu colleague Annie Luo for the NBCUniversal streamer’s leadership team. Luo is joining Peacock as executive VP, global partnerships and strategic development. She’s based in L.A. and will report to Campbell. In the role, Luo will lead teams responsible for

Netflix has pumped billions of dollars into original programming — but overall, its library of older licensed TV shows far outperforms homegrown hits like “Squid Game” or “Bridgerton.” In 2021 on Netflix, “Criminal Minds,” the crime-drama procedural that aired on CBS from 2005-20, scored as the most-viewed TV show among U.S. streaming platforms tracked by

The Christchurch, New Zealand-based University of Canterbury is to build a Digital Screen Campus, developing skills and talents necessary for a more converged media future. The development is expected to be the largest of its kind in the Southern Hemisphere. It will be constructed over 14 hectares (35 acres) and involve a $65 million (NZ$97

Netflix co-CEO and chief content officer Ted Sarandos proudly said “Stranger Things” is “as valuable a franchise as exists today in entertainment around the world” during the company’s Q4 earnings presentation Thursday. During the same pre-recorded Q&A, Netflix COO and chief product officer Greg Peters said while the streamer is very focused on its own

Digital entertainment studio Omnific Blockchain Studios is to take operational control of Marvel Digital Productions, a Hong Kong-based effects and post-production company. The move is intended to accelerate production of non fungible tokens (NFT). NFTs, which are unique, uncopiable versions of digital images, and use blockchain to trace them, have taken the art world by

It’s officially a green light: “Squid Game,” Netflix’s breakout hit of 2021, will be getting a Season 2, co-CEO and chief content officer Ted Sarandos affirmed. On Netflix’s fourth quarter 2021 earnings interview, Sarandos was asked whether there would be a second season of the violent South Korean survival drama, which has scored as the

Another day, another megadeal for multihyphenate creator Issa Rae, as the “Insecure” mastermind and her “audio everywhere” company Raedio have inked an exclusive development deal with Audible. Through the worldwide exclusive multi-project pact, Raedio and Audible will collaborate on Audible Original podcasts from a variety of audio genres including scripted comedy, audio extensions of existing

Netflix ended 2021 with a slightly lower-than-expected subscriber gain in the fourth quarter, and its stock took a steep dive with a weak Q1 outlook. The streaming giant reported a net gain of 8.28 million subscribers for Q4, again driven by markets outside North America, to reach 221.8 million total worldwide. Netflix previously forecast 8.5

Critical Role’s violent, Dungeons & Dragons animated series “The Legend of Vox Machina” is growing its party with an army of talented voice actors, such as Stephanie Beatriz, David Tennant, Tony Hale and many more. The guest actors will give life to many of the side characters from Critical Role’s popular Dungeons & Dragons web

As the barrier of entry to podcasts has lowered, it seems anyone with a gripe, sour grape or grievance to air is now able to reach the biggest megaphone on the planet with just a few clicks. That rant, delivered as an episode on the heels of a firing or a breakup or any manner

When radio hosts Cane and Corey were fired from their morning show gig on New York’s Alt 92.3 FM a month ago, it took them less than a half-hour to decide to take their shtick to a podcast. “As of 20 minutes ago, via Zoom, we have been let go,” said Cane Peterson at the

Chinese regulators teamed up on Wednesday to issue a volley of orders that will crimp the expansion of the country’s entertainment and tech giants, including Alibaba, Tencent and TikTok-owner Bytedance. The directives came in the same week that the U.S. increased its pushback against some of the same Chinese firms, pointing to security concerns, and

After going online only in 2021, the Paris Images Trade Show will return for its ninth edition as a hybrid event, offering both in-person and online attendees the chance to take in a broader view of France’s audiovisual production infrastructure. Running Jan. 20-29, the trade show will encompass five distinct and discreet events, each with

Howard Stern said on the Jan. 19 episode of his Sirius XM radio show “The Howard Stern Show” that hospitals across the U.S. should not admit patients who are unvaccinated against COVID (via Uproxx). Stern has often used his radio show to speak out against anti-vaxxers, but he was more blunt than ever when he

Instagram has switched on a new way for creators to make money, kicking off a test of subscriptions for the social platform in the U.S. Mark Zuckerberg, co-founder of Facebook and chairman/CEO of parent company Meta, announced the test in a post Wednesday. “This will help creators earn more by offering benefits to their most

ONLINE COMICS “7Fates: CHAKHO,” the online comic created by digital comics platform Webtoon, HYBE and K-pop sensation BTS, has surpassed 15 million views in just two days of global launch. The title is now the highest viewed title ever launched by Webtoon. “7Fates: CHAKHO,” has taken first place on Webtoon’s new and trending chart and

Variety has promoted Dea Lawrence to Chief Operating and Marketing Officer. Lawrence has dramatically expanded Variety‘s business operations since she rejoined the brand in 2015 as Chief Marketing Officer. She led the reimagining of Variety’s thriving roster of annual events and summits by pivoting at the start of the pandemic to the creation of the

Podimo, the European podcast subscription-service startup, named digital media exec Sachin Doshi, whose career has included gigs at Spotify, Twitter and Universal Music Group, to the position of chief content officer. Doshi, based in New York, will lead Podimo’s global content team and report to CEO Morten Strunge. Most recently, he was director of product