After joining forces last year to launch a banner together, indie powerhouses Mediawan (“Call My Agent”) and Leonine Studios (“Dark”) have acquired a 51% stake in Drama Republic, the award-winning U.K. production banner behind “Doctor Foster” and “The Honourable Woman.” The acquisition marks a milestone in developing the recently-launched Mediawan & Leonine Studios across English-speaking
SPOILER ALERT: Do not read if you have not yet watched “A Rickconvenient Mort,” the third episode of Season 5 of “Rick and Morty.” Despite a surefire premise to work with, “A Rickconvenient Mort” is the weakest episode of “Rick and Morty” Season 5 so far. Considering just how strong the first two episodes of the
AMM Global, a production and investment company spun out of Hong Kong’s Asia Television, and Phoenix Waters Productions have announced “Crypto Keepers,” which they claim will be Asia’s first NFT drama series. NFTs or non-fungible tokens, which aim to lock in the value of digital intellectual property, have taken the art and music worlds by
Bill Cosby has weighed in on the drama over his one-time costar, Phylicia Rashad, and her new bosses at Howard University … agreeing that if they can her, they gotta refund him. The freshly-released Cosby tweeted about the fallout from Phylicia’s controversial comments last week — in which she ecstatically celebrated Bill’s conviction being overturned,
The Academy Award-nominated animated feature “Wolfwalkers,” from Kilkenny-based studio Cartoon Saloon, has won Best Film at the Irish Film and Television Awards this evening. It is the second time an animated feature has won in the category, the first being Cartoon Saloon’s “Song of the Sea” in 2015. “Avengers: Endgame” star Josh Brolin presented the
Bill Cosby has issued a statement in support of his former TV wife, Phylicia Rashad, following backlash she received for celebrating his release from prison earlier this week. “Howard University you must support ones Freedom of Speech (Ms. Rashad), which is taught or suppose to be taught everyday at that renowned law school, which resides
How much longer can the industry ignore the reverence of actor Colman Domingo before they decide to take notice? This holiday weekend gives audiences the 2020 Sundance Film Festival hit “Zola” from A24 and co-writer and director Janicza Bravo. As “X,” the mysterious and terrifying “roommate” of Stefani (Riley Keough), who takes her, the free-spirited
Nikkatsu has added “Hiruko the Goblin,” a 1991 adventure-horror film by cult director Tsukamoto Shinya, to its sales slate at the Cannes Market, an adjunct to the Cannes Film Festival. To mark the 30th anniversary of the film’s original release, it has been restored and remastered in a new 2K version. The second feature by
Rachel Nichols — a star anchor for ESPN, covering all things NBA — was caught on camera last year talking to LeBron James‘ publicist about how to prevent a fellow female anchor, who’s Black, from taking over her job during the Finals … and the fallout seems devastating. The New York Times published a bombshell
SPOILER ALERT: Do not read if you have not yet watched “We the People,” streaming now on Netflix. “We the People,” doesn’t just teach civics, it also mixes music and animation as storytelling devices to get its message across to adults and kids alike. Each of the 10 episodes of the series created by Chris Nee
Documentaries from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, India, and Nepal will compete for the €10,000 ($11,866) docs-in-progress grand prize and other awards at the 2021 edition of Cannes Docs. From Afghanistan, prolific short filmmaker Hezbullah Sultani’s feature documentary debut “Birds Street” explores Kabul’s showcase for avian life, a corner of the city tucked away behind a mosque untouched
There are a lot ways to describe “Zola,” the scandalously intoxicating mad-dog erotic-underworld drama with a title that doesn’t tell you much about it. It’s a true story so extravagant it feels like it must have been made up. It’s a mini volcano of sex and violence and danger and deception. It’s a close-to-the-bone portrait
Local film “Hard Hit” held on to top spot at the South Korean box office for the second week, keeping Hollywood holdovers and new release titles at bay. The Busan-set action thriller scored $2.07 million in its second weekend on release, according to data from the Kobis tracking service operated by the Korean Film Council
It won’t be a weekend for the record books, but this year’s July 4th holiday box office haul is a marked improvement on the 2020 edition. The box office boost is thanks to a trio of new movies — the kid-friendly “The Boss Baby: Family Business,” the gruesome thriller “The Forever Purge,” and the satirical
“We the People” is aggressively, viscerally enthusiastic. Presented in four-minute bursts of song, the new Netflix series from the Obamas’ Higher Ground Productions infuses civics lessons with joyous songs and psychedelic animation. Each bite-sized episode tackles a new aspect of the U.S. government with the grinning fervor of a high school musical’s opening night, featuring
Animation film “Belle” by the Japanese director Hosoda Mamoru will join the Cannes Film Festival lineup. The festival said Sunday that “Belle” will have its world premiere in the Cannes Premiere section and play on Thursday July 15. ” ‘Belle’ is the film that I’ve always dreamt to create and that I can make today thanks
Mediawan Rights, the sales arm of European media group Mediawan, is ramping up its documentary slate with the addition of two new feature films, Variety has learned. Directed by Ado Hasanovic, “My Father’s Diaries” is an intimate portrait of the Bosnian War that uses 8mm footage shot by the director’s family, as well as his
In a career that spans more than seven decades, Eva Marie Saint has won an Oscar, played Superman’s mom, and acted alongside screen legends such as Paul Newman, Montgomery Clift and Marlon Brando. A versatile performer, she appeared in comedies (“The Russians Are Coming, the Russians Are Coming”), historical epics (“Raintree County”), social dramas (“On
Transgender drama “Midnight Swan” was named as the best film on Saturday at the Far East Film Festival in Udine, Italy. The Golden Mulberry prize was awarded by an audience poll after the film’s online screening. The film, directed by Uchida Eiji, is the story of an adolescent girl who moves in with her transgender
Dominikos Ignatiadis was just 16 years old when his mother, Gabriela, left his family, a fact that has haunted him for much of his adult life. After her death, he embarked on an intimate journey into the past, using her diary, her letters, and the recollections of her family and friends to try to unravel
As the Thessaloniki Documentary Festival winds down, filmmaker and Greek Documentary Association (GDA) president Marianna Economou points to great strides taken by the local industry in recent years, while adding that more support is needed to sustain its growth and development. As the head of the GDA, Economou oversees an organization that was founded in
During the first lockdown in the spring of 2020, as the coronavirus pandemic began spreading throughout Greece, the director of an elderly care home in the suburbs of Athens and his staff decided to seal the home from the outside world, in order to prevent the possibility of infections amongst his vulnerable residents. When he
Former Nickelodeon showrunner Dan Schneider has finally addressed his exit from the network, just as Paramount Plus has released a reboot of his former show, “iCarly.” For 20 years, Schneider helmed kids’ shows that continue to inform the millennial and Gen-Z pop culture zeitgeist: “All That, “The Amanda Show,” “Drake & Josh,” “Zoey 101,” “Victorious”
Disney Plus has unveiled a first look at its new anime anthology series, “Star Wars: Visions,” coming to the platform on Sept. 22. During Anime Expo Lite on Saturday, Disney Plus announced the seven Japanese anime studios that are behind the short films in the series: Kamikaze Douga, Geno Studio (Twin Engine), Studio Colorido (Twin
Some people like “Independence Day” for its campy take on “Close Encounters of the Third Kind”; or for its technical achievements, which won an Oscar and set director Roland Emmerich on the path for becoming the disaster director du jour; or for establishing Will Smith as the “King of the Fourth of July.” Other people
“A love letter to cinema” was the tired-but-true trope that everyone trotted out when Quentin Tarantino’s “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood,” the movie, hit theaters two years ago. But it’s now clear just how insufficient a mere mash note to the movies was for Tarantino. This week saw the arrival of “Once Upon a
The night before her June 23 testimony, Britney Spears called 911 to report conservatorship abuse, according to a new investigation by Ronan Farrow and Jia Tolentino in the New Yorker. “Members of Spears’s team began texting one another frantically. They were worried about what Spears might say the next day, and they discussed how to
Amazon Studios is firing back following reports that production on the upcoming “Lord of the Rings” series is not taking safety standards seriously, with the company calling the claims “completely inaccurate.” An article in the New Zealand Herald, published on Friday, reports that “at least three” stunt workers on the set of the “Lord of
Phylicia Rashad apologized in a letter to the students and families of Howard University for her public celebration of Bill Cosby’s overturned sexual assault conviction. In the letter obtained by CNN, Rashad, who is dean of Howard’s College of Fine Arts, wrote: “My remarks were in no way directed towards survivors of sexual assault. I
Phylicia Rashad has FINALLY done an about-face on her Bill Cosby sentiments from this week — issuing a formal apology to Howard U students … and deleting the tweet in question. The former actress — who is now Dean of the HBCU’s Fine Arts College — sent a letter to Howard U students Friday, which