Peacock is expanding its documentary slate, with the streamer announcing three new projects. The first is currently titled “Downey Wrote That.” The documentary will explore the sketches, contributions, and enduring influence of Jim Downey, one of the most impactful comedy writers in the history of “Saturday Night Live.” Downey has worked on over 30 seasons
“Mystery Science Theater 3000” is coming back strong. The beloved cult series will be back with more original episodes and a custom online distribution platform thanks to another successful Kickstarter campaign. The campaign, which concluded May 7 after 30 days, raised over $6.5 million with over 36,000 backers. Series creator Joel Hodgson will use the
WarnerMedia is joining Netflix and Amazon Studios in refusing to participate in any more events related to the Hollywood Foreign Press Association until the org demonstrates real, lasting reform and change, according to a letter that has been sent to HFPA president Ali Sar. In the letter, signed by key WarnerMedia execs and shared with
There was an argument to be made that the now-mononymous comedy star Ziwe was among the best television performers of 2020 — even though her existing outside television was what had made her a star. Ziwe’s Instagram Live series, in which she delivered startlingly direct interviews with internet stars and comedian peers about race, made
Just as Jean Girard so memorably noted in “Talladega Nights,” “God needs the Devil. The Beatles needed the Rolling Stones, even Diane Sawyer needed Katie Couric,” one could add that “Bob Dylan needed Donovan.” It’s been 56 years since we saw Dylan and Donovan side by side during Dylan’s famous knockabout 1965 tour, chronicled in
Digital music company Believe announced plans for a Paris stock market listing on Monday, for which it is aiming to raise around 500 million euros ($608 million), according to reports in Reuters and Music Ally. The company’s digital music brands include TuneCore, Believe Distribution Services, Nuclear Blast, Naïve, Groove Attack and AllPoints. Believe cautioned that
Check out an official Cruella Sneak Peek starring Emma Stone! Let us know what you think in the comments below. ► Sign up for a Fandango FanAlert for Cruella: https://www.fandango.com/cruella-2021-224240/movie-overview?cmp=MCYT_YouTube_Desc Want to be notified of all the latest movie trailers? Subscribe to the channel and click the bell icon to stay up to date. US
Just under a year ago, as protests gripped the U.S. and the music industry took a “Blackout Tuesday” to examine its policies and attitudes toward race, Sony Music Group announced the launch of a $100 million Global Social Justice Fund to support social justice and anti-racist initiatives around the world. The company — which includes all
Mandy Chang, the head of BBC documentary strand Storyville, is stepping down after four years in the role to join super-indie Fremantle as global head of factual. Chang, whose role was officially commissioning editor of Storyville and acquisitions, will stay in the post until August, though recruitment for the role will begin in due course.
No one is more devoted to Australian author Henry Lawson’s “The Drover’s Wife” than Leah Purcell. First, she adapted Lawson’s classic 1892 short story as an award-winning play at Sydney’s Belvoir St Theatre, in which she starred; then she turned it into an acclaimed novel; and now, she has written and directed a gripping film
Check out the official Venom: Let There Be Carnage Trailer starring Tom Hardy! Let us know what you think in the comments below. ► Sign up for a Fandango FanAlert for Venom: Let There Be Carnage: https://www.fandango.com/venom-let-there-be-carnage-2021-223021/movie-overview?cmp=MCYT_YouTube_Desc Want to be notified of all the latest movie trailers? Subscribe to the channel and click the bell
To highlight its Asian American and Pacific Islander creators and talent during AAPI Heritage Month, Netflix is launching a hub on the service dedicated to AAPI content, as well as a national ad campaign. The company joins other streaming services in spotlighting its AAPI shows and movies — HBO Max and Hulu are just two
Since “Shadow and Bone” premiered on Netflix on April 23, the fantasy epic series has been a fixture at or near the top of the streamer’s Top 10 lists in the U.S. and worldwide. Audiences have devoured its story of orphaned mapmaker Alina Starkov (Jessie Mei Li), who discovers she holds the unique — and
The Weeknd will perform at the Billboard Music Awards on May 23 — which is only fitting since he’s the top finalist this year with nominations in 16 categories, riding the success of his blockbuster “After Hours” album and its smash single “Blinding Lights,” which has crushed multiple streaming and chart records. Over the course
The casts of “Fargo,” “Raging Bull,” “The Five Heartbeats,” and “The Royal Tenenbaums” will reunite at this year’s Tribeca Film Festival. In addition, the festival, which is returning to in-person events after COVID scrambled plans for the 2020 edition, will host talks with the likes of Bradley Cooper, Amy Schumer, Gina Prince-Bythewood, M. Night Shyamalan,
Mediamorfosis, Latin America’s largest new media forum, is returning this summer after the COVID-19 pandemic saw its cancellation last year. As the global health crisis continues to rage across the region, the forum will take place online over July 27-31 this year. The virtual conference has launched its open call, which will run from May
The International Documentary Association (IDA) and XRM Media have launched a new international fund to support short verité documentaries with an emphasis on emerging filmmakers. The IDA+XRM Media Incubator will provide three filmmakers with $25,000 each. In addition, Academy Award-nominated directors Skye Fitzgerald (“Hunger Ward”) and Smriti Mundhra (“St. Louis Superman”), and Emmy-nominated director Nadia
Morena Films, one of Spain’s biggest movie production forces, has closed Spanish distribution on “On the Fringe,” starring Penelope Cruz and Luis Tosar (“The Minions of Midas”). The feature debut of actor-turned-director Juan Diego Botto (“White Lines,” “Good Behavior”), “On the Fringe” (“En las margenes”) will be released in Spain by Vértice Cine. Scheduled to
The trailer for the long-awaited “Venom” sequel is finally here — and so is the new villain Carnage. Viewers get a sneak peek at the red symbiote character from the comics, who was briefly introduced at the end of the first “Venom” film, released in 2018. In the trailer, Cletus Kasady (Woody Harrelson), a crazed
In today’s Global Bulletin, the Brit Awards honor Taylor Swift; Comedy Central U.K. commissions three new unscripted programs; and Digital Catapult prepares the world’s first 5G-powered music festival. AWARDS This year’s Brit Awards will recognize American artist Taylor Swift with the organization’s highest honor, the Global Icon award, at Tuesday’s ceremony in recognition of her
Lisa Jackson’s hybrid documentary feature project “Wilfred Buck,” which centers on the eponymous science facilitator, an expert in Indigenous lore about astronomy, won the Canadian Forum Pitch Prize at Hot Docs last week. Jackson tells Variety how she came to the project. Jackson – whose mother was Anishinaabe, an Indigenous group in North America –
The Berlin Film Festival has confirmed that its in-person ‘Summer Special’ will go ahead as planned as an exclusively outdoor event. The decision comes just under a month after organizers revealed that staging the event in cinemas and outdoors was proving to be a “bigger challenge” than anticipated given worrying COVID-19 figures out of Germany.
Pandemic-born initiative Female Film Club (FFC) is expanding its global membership with a new campaign. The organization will encourage media and social media users to share an insta reel with the hashtag #FFCWORLDWIDE which explains the campaign. The aim is to reach every filmmaker in every country and give them an opportunity to get their
“Captain Marvel” actor Gemma Chan, “Crazy Rich Asians” star Henry Golding and “Doctor Strange” actor Benedict Wong are throwing their support behind an initiative to help the U.K.’s East and South East Asian (ESEA) community amid a rise in hate crimes following the COVID-19 crisis. The launch comes after a U.S. initiative from GoFundMe raised
Adriana Ugarte, star of hit Spanish TV drama “The Time in Between” and Pedro Almodóvar’s “Julieta,” will play the lead role in Atresmedia original series “Madre.” A remake of successful Turkish TV drama “Anne,” in turn an adaptation of Japanese series “Mother,” “Madre” continues Spanish media conglomerate Atresmedia’s bet on re-versioning recent standout Turkish scripted
Zhang Yimou’s spy thriller “Cliff Walkers” strode into first place this weekend at the China box office with a $24.3 million score, bringing its cumulative total up to $118 million, according to data from consultancy Artisan Gateway. It more than tripled the gross of “My Love,” the melodramatic rom-com that had outpaced it last week
Newly released “The Croods: A New Age” jostled with two previously-released titles to form a triumvirate at the top of the South Korean box office over the weekend of May 7-9, 2021. But after a sprightly Wednesday, which was a national holiday, the weekend numbers were weak. Aggregate takings between Friday and Sunday were a
CNCO has announced that Joel Pimentel is leaving the band, following their upcoming virtual concert on May 14. In a statement on Sunday posted to CNCO’s social media accounts, the band wrote: “We’re sad to tell you that after five and a half unforgettable and life changing years together, Friday, May 14th will be Joel’s
Seth Rogen has spoken out about his professional relationship with frequent co-star and collaborator James Franco, saying that he has no plans to work with him following allegations of sexually inappropriate behavior. In an interview with The Sunday Times, Rogen addressed the allegations, as well as his 2014 “Saturday Night Live” opening monologue, where he
In the opening scene of Chino Moya’s grimmer-than-Grimm dystopian fairy tale collection, “Undergods,” a pair of grungy near-future garbagemen scour the ruins of a ghostly former metropolis looking for bodies. Like the Black Plague cleanup crew in “Monty Python and the Holy Grail” — the occasionally too-efficient “bring out your dead!” guys — it doesn’t