As the amount of streaming platforms entering the market multiplies, the risk of consumers getting lost in the rush increases, according to Universal Content Productions and Wilshire Studios president Dawn Olmstead. At Variety‘s TV Summit, Olmstead spoke on a panel about how streamers are taking over the business and the impacts they are having on content
Television
When “Younger” returns for its sixth season, everything will look a lot different. The hip wardrobe and sets will remain the same, but the people inhabiting those chic spaces will be navigating completely new territory. For starters, Charles (Peter Hermann) and Liza (Sutton Foster) are finally an out-and-proud couple that can exist together in the
June 12, 2019 2:41PM PT The WGA East and various New York City agencies have unveiled the 10 writers selected to take part in the second “Made in NY Writers Room” program designed to open doors to writers from backgrounds that are underrepresented in mainstream entertainment. The program is a partnership of the guild and
June 12, 2019 2:00PM PT “World of Dance” judge Derek Hough has signed a first-look deal with Universal Television, Variety has learned. The deal encompasses both alternative and scripted programming. Hough has been a judge on the NBC competition series for three seasons since its launch in May 2017. He also co-starred in the network’s production of
June 12, 2019 10:00AM PT Don Cheadle is the latest A-list name to throw his hat into the Quibi content ring. The “Avengers” and “Black Monday” star has joined the cast of sci-fi drama “Don’t Look Deeper,” which is in the works at the short form content platform founded by Jeffrey Katzenberg. “Don’t Look Deeper”
Michael Katcher is headed to FX. Katcher, the longtime head of the television talent department at CAA, has been named to the newly-created role of executive vice president of casting for FX Entertainment. In his new role, Katcher will report to Gina Balian and Nick Grad, co-presidents of original programming for FX Entertainment, and Sharon
Philanthropist-executive Jay Ruderman has a very specific message for the television industry: You’re on the right path, but there’s still a long way to go. The Ruderman Foundation has been championing causes since 2002, and has recently focused on Hollywood’s neglect of people with disabilities, or PWD. Amid all the talk about Hollywood’s lack of
As television focuses on diversity and inclusion in front of and behind the camera, broadcasters, cable networks and streamers alike are finding ways to include more women and people of color among their ranks. The small screen is known for being more diverse than the big screen — for reasons at the intersections of cost
Marc Du Pontavice, whose Paris-based company Xilam won Cannes Critics’ Week top prize with the animated feature “I lost My Body,” is set to expand the scope of his thriving listed outfit with new projects skewing adults and teens. Among these projects is a series adaptation of “Monkey Bizness,” the popular French comics created by
Popular Swedish actor Peter Stormare (“The Blacklist,” “Swedish Dicks”) is set to direct, produce and star in “American Runestone,” a documentary series shedding light on the role played by Viking explorers in Europe’s discovery of North America. The series’ first two seasons have been commissioned by the Viaplay streaming service run by Scandinavia’s NENT Group.
Discovery has added a raft of U.K. lifestyle channels to its lineup, and BBC Studios a cluster of entertainment offerings, after the pair completed their UKTV deal. The UKTV channels group was originally a joint venture between Scripps and BBC Studios, the British pubcaster’s commercial arm. The deal to untangle ownership of the networks in
Political comedy isn’t easy in the Trump era. For “Late Night With Seth Meyers” writers, the process to come up with nightly jokes is already intense — or as Ally Hord describes it, “a masterclass in failure” — but the unpredictability of the Trump administration has exacerbated it tenfold. “Since Trump became president, he breaks
Hollywood royalty will be mingling with European royalty at this month’s Monte Carlo Television Festival. The Hollywood contingent travelling to Monte Carlo — known for its glamorous location, red carpets and press junkets — includes Michael Douglas, who will receive the event’s top award, the Crystal Nymph, from Prince Albert II of Monaco. Kennedy family
Home to the super-rich, the Monte Carlo quarter of Monaco has a long tradition as a filming location for projects that want to convey the glamorous lifestyles of the wealthy elite. Just 1.24 miles across (about half the size of New York’s Central Park), Monte Carlo has nevertheless squeezed in an array of high-end productions,
“It’s a nice full circle,” says Michael Douglas, speaking exclusively to Variety ahead of the Monte Carlo Television Festival, reflecting on a career that began in TV, blossomed in film, but has seen him return to the small screen in Netflix’s “The Kominsky Method.” Douglas is this year’s recipient of Monte Carlo’s Crystal Nymph, awarded
Agatha Christie’s 1961 novel “The Pale Horse” is being adapted for the small screen. The BBC has greenlit a two-part adaptation of the book, one of Christie’s later works, with Amazon Prime Video on board to co-produce and to show it in the U.S. The drama follows events after a list of names is found
June 11, 2019 3:36PM PT In today’s roundup, Hulu drops the first look at Reese Witherspoon and Kerry Washington in “Little Fires Everywhere” and MTV renews “Floribama Shore” for a third season. FIRST LOOKS Hulu has released the first look (pictured above) at Reese Witherspoon and Kerry Washington in “Little Fires Everywhere,” the adaptation of Celeste Ng’s
June 11, 2019 3:24PM PT The cancellation of the critically acclaimed Netflix series “One Day At a Time” was not an easy decision, according to Cindy Holland, VP of originals for the streamer, but a necessary one. Speaking Tuesday from the stage of Code Conference in Scottsdale, Ariz. opposite “Russian Doll” star Natasha Lyonne, she
June 11, 2019 2:55PM PT Netflix is caught in the “Russian Doll” loop. The streaming giant has renewed the critically-acclaimed series for Season 2, which will consist of eight episodes. The announcement was made at the CODE Conference in Arizona on Tuesday. “Russian Doll” was co-created by Natasha Lyonne, Amy Poehler, and Leslye Headland. Lyonne
She will report to Keith Cocozza, the company’s executive vice president of corporate marketing and communications. Battin is charged with leading corporate brand strategy and brand management, and will oversee a team responsible for coordinated portfolio marketing, agency management, cross promotion planning, media production and presentation services. Battin was most recently executive vice president and
MTV has revealed that Jada Pinkett Smith will be honored with the “Trailblazer” Award during the 2019 “MTV Movie & TV Awards.” The prize, which recognizes game-changing creators in entertainment, will be presented by Pinkett Smith’s “Girls Trip” co-star Tiffany Haddish. Previous recipients of the award include Lena Waithe in 2018, Shailene Woodley, Channing Tatum,
June 11, 2019 12:05PM PT Ilana Glazer is getting her own stand-up special, courtesy of Amazon. The “Broad City” co-creator’s first special, titled “The Planet Is Burning,” will shoot on Wednesday at the White Oak Music Hall in Houston, TX and premiere exclusively on the streaming platform. The critically acclaimed “Broad City,” which she originally
That admonition credited to Coco Chanel about taking one thing off before leaving the house came to mind in the first minutes of “City on a Hill.” Sure, the line is a cliché, but it’s somehow less well-worn than the Boston-cop aesthetic that pervades Showtime’s new drama. This is a show that resists no opportunity,
June 11, 2019 10:13AM PT “Big Little Lies” kicked off its second season with a nice ratings boost and that is not a lie of any size. The Season 2 premiere of the HBO series nabbed 2.5 million viewers combined in both linear airings and on streaming options HBO GO and HBO NOW. That is
Former Starz executive vice president of original programming Marta Fernandez has been named the president of MACRO Television Studios, Variety has learned. “I couldn’t be happier to have Marta join us to lead our television group,” said Charles D. King, MACRO founder and CEO. “Her spot on creative instincts, refined taste level and wealth of experience
The third season of “The Handmaid’s Tale” promises to be huge for Hulu. With restrictive abortion laws sweeping the South, the show, which has been a lightning rod for women’s rights issues since its inception in 2017, is in greater demand now than ever — 27 times more in demand than the average TV show
Jennifer Aniston and several of her co-stars on Netflix’s “Murder Mystery” supported the streamer’s stance on pulling production out of Georgia if the state’s anti-abortion bill passes. “I think it’s fantastic. Good for them. They have the voices, they have the power, and that’s the way you have change happen,” Aniston told Variety at the
June 11, 2019 9:20AM PT Josh Hartnett has been cast as the lead in an upcoming series titled “Paradise Lost” from Spectrum Originals and Paramount Network. The series, which hails from Paramount TV and Anonymous Content, is described as a Southern Gothic mystery about a psychiatrist who moves with her family from California to her
In his 2014 book, “10% Happier,” Dan Harris recounts a time when he stepped on to the set of ABC’s “Good Morning America” to do his anchor job there, and began suffering from an intense panic attack while on camera. In 2019, he seems much more confident. Harris, who has been with ABC News since
Last night’s stunning victory by the defending NBA champion Golden State Warriors over the Toronto Raptors not only prolonged the 2019 NBA finals into a sixth game, but also delivered a ratings boost for ABC on the last couple of victories for the Canadian team. Game 5, which ended on the incredibly tight score of