When preparing for H.E.R.’s Variety cover shoot, stylist Wouri Vice was riffing ideas with photographer Arielle Bobb-Willis. As Juneteenth came into the conversation, he thought of the singer in a black hoodie with “8:46” embossed on it. “Those who know, know — they will continue to fight,” he says. The number is the amount of
A year ago, HBO’s “I’ll Be Gone in the Dark” emerged as something truly special — a true-crime series with a sense of probing curiosity that extended beyond the lurid. Based on the work of the late writer Michelle McNamara, the series achieved a sort of double feat. It worked both as an exacting and
On Feb. 9, everything changed for Chris Harrison. The affable, controversy-free host of “The Bachelor” sat down with former “Bachelorette” star Rachel Lindsay on “Extra.” When asked a simple question about “Bachelor” winner Rachael Kirkconnell, whose former plantation party photos re-surfaced on social media, Harrison went to great lengths to defend the racially insensitive, controversial
The leading sales, finance and production outfit Beta Cinema will present first footage from the upcoming Australian comedy drama “How to Please a Woman” at next week’s Pre-Cannes Screenings. Variety has been given the first still from the film, starring Sally Phillips, whose credits include the “Bridget Jones’s Diary” movies, and a recurring guest role
Producers Celine Rattray and Trudie Styler weren’t in a unique position when COVID-19 hit. Like others who were working on film sets, they were left without a way to continue their job — at least in person. So they got innovative. Rattray and Styler, whose combined producing credits include “The Kids Are All Right,” “American
“Love Actually” alum Billy Nighy looks to be the quintessential English gentleman in the first image released from upcoming feel-good feature “Living,” in which the actor plays a 1950s civil servant struggling with a life-threatening diagnosis. The bowler hat and sharp pinstripe suit come courtesy of Oscar-winning costume designer Sandy Powell, who has also signed
“Game of Thrones” co-executive producer Vince Gerardis is developing “Provvidenza,” a prequel to Italy’s national literary classic “I Promessi Sposi” (The Betrothed) to be set in a 16th-century plague-stricken Milan that is dirty, dark, lethal and corrupt. After setting up a Rome-based company called CIAO, Gerardis — who specializes in packaging big world-building film and
Roku says its pickup of the 75-plus shows from Quibi, the short-lived premium mobile entertainment startup that went belly-up last year, has paid off beyond its expectations. But as with other streaming companies, Roku isn’t divulging specific metrics for the Quibi programming, which it rebranded as Roku Originals. According to Roku, more active accounts streamed
In their first public appearance since WarnerMedia merged the two development divisions this past April, execs from HBO Max and Adult Swim previewed their upcoming slates, releasing new footage from adult-skewing offerings “10-Year-Old-Tom” and “Smiling Friends,” while talking up several more. Created by Michael Cusack (“YOLO: Crystal Fantasy”) and Zack Hadel (of the popular YouTube
Spotify has snapped up another player in the podcast space, announcing the acquisition of Podz, a startup that developed an auto-generated “audio newsfeed” for podcasts. Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed. New York-based Podz raised $2.5 million in seed funding led by venture-capital firm M13 along with Canaan Partners, Charge Ventures and Humbition, as
Songwriters Hall of Fame inductee Nile Rodgers was unanimously re-elected to serve a second three-year term as Chairman of the Songwriters Hall of Fame by the SHOF Board of Directors at its annual board meeting held on June 11. A cofounder of Chic and cowriter of nearly all of that group’s songs, Rodgers has worked
WarnerMedia Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA) has added country manager roles for seasoned company executives Sylvia Rothblum, Pierre Branco, and Jamie Friend. Rothblum is now country manager for Germany, Austria and Switzerland, in addition to her current role as head of TV distribution for the region. During her 20-year tenure at the company
TF1 Studio has unveiled a raft of major pre-sales on “Superwho,” an action-packed comedy directed by Philippe Lacheau, in the run up to the Pre-Cannes Screenings, where the film will have its virtual world premiere on June 23. Lacheau, who stars in his movie, is behind some of France’s biggest comedy hits in recent history,
Brazilian director Alê Abreu and his team gave Annecy audiences a first look of his much anticipated new feature film “Perlimps” on Thursday, also sharing his fluid storyboarding process and the methods he uses to create his unique visual style. The Oscar-nominated director of “Boy and the World” and his assistant director Viviane Guimaraes spoke
Banijay Group has become the latest super-indie to pull out of this fall’s Mipcom TV market in Cannes, Variety can reveal. Mipcom, the largest international TV market, reiterated earlier this week that it would take place as a physical event from Oct. 11-14, having skipped 2020 due to the pandemic. Hamstrung by the crisis, organizers
Pathé, France’s leading film studio and owner of the country’s largest theatrical circuit, is set to leap into television with a dedicated division and an ambitious drama slate from well-known filmmakers. The new division will be headed by Aude Albano, a former senior executive at Capa Drama, whose track record includes the French-produced international hit
“Trespass and die,” reads an unneighborly sign glimpsed early in Josh Ruben’s agile, niftily directed whodunit “Werewolves Within.” While it specifically refers to some local’s private property, one could safely apply the warning to the whole snow-clad Vermont village that surrounds it. Welcome to Beaverfield, a sleepy town chock-full of secrets, lies and ideological disparities
“The Moodys” has been canceled at Fox after two seasons, Variety has learned. The series originally debuted in December 2019. The second season debuted on April 1, but Fox pulled it from the schedule with three episodes left around two weeks later. The final episode of the season is currently slated to air this Sunday,
Warner Bros. has acquired Marvin Gaye biopic “What’s Going On,” Variety has confirmed. “What’s Going On” has been in the works for a number of years. The news that Dr. Dre was working on a film about the late soul icon first broke in 2018. Dr. Dre will produce alongside Jimmy Iovine and Andrew Lazar, with Allen
Two members have resigned from the Hollywood Foreign Press Association as the organization is in the midst of a thorough overhaul. Diederik van Hoogstraten of the Netherlands and Wenting Xu of China sent a letter of resignation to the HFPA leadership, the L.A. Times reported Thursday. The two overseas journalists said in their letter that
All products and services featured by Variety are independently selected by Variety editors. However, Variety may receive a commission on orders placed through its retail links, and the retailer may receive certain auditable data for accounting purposes. If you can’t wait for the next season of “Rick and Morty,” you’re not the only one. The
Michael B. Jordan, Carrie Fisher, Nipsey Hussle, Francis Ford Coppola, James Hong, DJ Khaled and Black Eyed Peas are among the entertainers who will receive stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. The Walk of Fame Class of 2022 includes Hollywood’s biggest names from motion pictures, television, recording, radio, live theatre and sports entertainment. Hailing
L.A.-based music company Score a Score has launched “Homesick Sounds” to help workers ease back into the office workspace without having to give up the commonplace sounds they became accustomed to during quarantine. “Homesick Sounds” consists of over 50 loopable sounds available on its interactive soundboard. Users can choose between leaf blowers, old AC units
Jack Huston has been cast in the upcoming Amazon series “Expats,” the adaptation of Janice Y.K. Lee’s novel “The Expatriates Set against the fabric of Hong Kong, “Expats” is the story of an international community whose lives are bound together forever after a sudden family tragedy. Huston will play David Starr, who has long lived
The Kardashians have a storied history of breaking the internet, so it comes to no surprise that reality television’s favorite family has garnered half a billion tweets since “Keeping Up With the Kardashians” first aired in 2007. Scandals and advertisements aside, social media became the place for the Kardashians to set the record straight on
“Rise Again: Tulsa and the Red Summer” begins with workers marking off patches of green grass with orange paint. The beeps of a bulldozer sounded as excavation at the Oaklawn cemetery in Tulsa, Oklahoma, got underway last summer. Forensic anthropologist had turned up data that suggested there might be a mass grave at the site.
The Tribeca Festival 2021 has announced the full list of winners for each of its competition categories. Lauren Hadaway’s “The Novice” won for narrative feature, Levan Koguashvili’s “Brighton 4th” won for international feature and Jessica Kingdon’s “Ascension” won for documentary feature. Awards were given out for the following competition categories: U.S. narrative, international narrative, documentary,
Top ViacomCBS executive David Nevins is in talks for an expanded role that would include oversight of content for Paramount Plus, sources tell Variety. The longtime Showtime CEO and chairman, who also serves as chief creative officer of CBS, would maintain his portfolio that at present includes Showtime Networks and BET Networks, individuals with knowledge
‘Queen Sugar’ FYC Highlights Social Justice Through Art There have been a lot of great and stirring FYC events this year, and we’ve highlighted a few here. One that recently stood out in terms of being about something even larger than the show being promoted was “A Night of Social Justice,” which celebrated OWN’s “Queen
Even if some music fans may be burned out on straight performance livestreams after 16 months, no one at Amazon will take the bait to knock the format — they’ve used it before, and they may well end up using it again. But for this Amazon Prime Day, at least, there was a clear mandate