As the COVID-19 pandemic, Oval Office hysteria and racial tumult raged outside his studio walls, Flying Lotus spent 2020 with a laser focus on, of all things, anime. The acclaimed musician/producer, whose real name is Steven Ellefson, created more than 200 tracks for the score of Netflix’s new anime series “Yasuke,” which premiered April 30
Paul Phillips, the former lead guitarist for Puddle of Mudd, claims he could have trouble making music and making a living … due to some shoddy care he allegedly got at a hospital. Paul is suing Florida’s Baptist Medical Center of the Beaches and a couple doctors for medical malpractice … claiming their treatments left
Baz Halpin, the music touring creative director who founded Silent House 11 years ago, announced an ambitious expansion Tuesday, with his brainchild to now be known as Silent House Group and expanded into three separate companies — Silent House Studiios, Silent House Events and Silent House Productions. Key hires in the expansion include Mark Bracco
The latest comedian to launch a variety series is Sam Jay, whose forthcoming “Pause With Sam Jay” will premiere May 21 at 9 p.m. on HBO and HBO Max, Variety has learned exclusively. The half-hour series, which comes from Jay and showrunner Prentice Penny, features various segments, from an apartment-set party hosted by Jay, to
“Big Sky” has been renewed for Season 2 at ABC. In addition, series executive producer Elwood Reid will take over as showrunner for Season 2. His past credits include “The Chi,” “The Bridge,” “Hawaii Five-O,” and “Barkskins.” He takes over running the show from series creator and executive producer David E. Kelley. Season 1 is
America’s most notorious (and beloved) outlaw and gunfighter is getting the silver screen treatment. Premium cabler and MGM subsidiary Epix has greenlit a “Billy the Kid” drama, written and executive produced by “Elizabeth,” “The Tudors” and “Vikings” scribe Michael Hirst. The hourlong eight-parter starts production this June in Calgary, with a series premiere slated for
United Talent Agency has promoted more than 100 employees across 30 departments, marking its largest-ever class of promotions. The promotions — which encompass employees at all levels of the company and across multiple global offices — come from departments including business affairs, comedy touring, corporate communications, corporate services, culture & leadership, digital talent, emerging platforms,
Here are the top trailers for movies coming to home video in May 2021! What will you watch? Watch All the Best New Trailers from April 2021: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLScC8g4bqD44Zf6j6ZFy36ZCssBW18X8-&cmp=MCYT_YouTube_Desc 00:00 Street Gang: How We Got to Sesame Street 02:11 Locked In 04:03 Initiation 05:36 Paper Spiders 07:26 Long Weekend 08:27 French Exit 10:36 The Killing of
AB + DM Christian Serratos likes to make people cry. Fortunately, the actress’s most recent project, the second installment of Netflix’s Selena: The Series, offers ample opportunities. In one scene from Part 2 (premiering today), Serratos, who plays the iconic Tejano singer, is laying down vocals for “No Me Queda Más” in a recording booth
“I May Destroy You,” “Small Axe,” “Ted Lasso,” “The Good Lord Bird” and “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” are among this year’s entertainment nominees for the Peabody Awards. The Peabody Awards Board of Jurors on Tuesday announced this year’s nominees for entertainment, documentaries, news, podcast/radio, children’s & youth, public service and arts. A total
SPOILER ALERT: Do not read if you have not yet watched “Selena: The Series Part 2,” streaming now on Netflix. As the 18-episode saga of singer-songwriter Selena Quintanilla’s (played by Christian Serratos) rise to stardom came to a close, it had to do so with her untimely death at the hands of her former fan
YouTube has again turned to big-name entertainment personalities to anchor its latest slate of ad-supported originals. At its Brandcast Delivered event for advertisers Tuesday, YouTube announced an unscripted series with Will Smith following his latest fitness journey and a new docuseries with Alicia Keys premiering this summer. The video giant also announced the third and
As a young girl, “The View” co-host and Emmy Award-winning legal journalist Sunny Hostin would use a hairbrush as a mic and mimic Barbara Walters and Diane Sawyer in the mirror. She didn’t have many broadcast idols she could emulate — in those times, there weren’t many women of color headlining news shows. Now, with
Netflix is about to introduce one of Mexico’s most legendary fictional families to the English-speaking world with “We Are the Nobles,” a new U.S. film adaptation of Mexican sensation “Nosotros los Nobles” (The Noble Family). Eight years ago, Gaz Alazraki’s family comedy became a certified blockbuster, and still ranks as the second highest-grossing Mexican film
A year marked by the coronavirus pandemic, economic turbulence, and widespread protest has given increased urgency to conversations about racism, social justice, and inequality. That, in turn, is forcing the documentary world to rethink the traditional ways of doing business, according to industry leaders. “You can’t completely blow everything up, I don’t think. We have
Meghan Markle has written her first children’s book called “The Bench,” which will be published on June 8. The book will explore the special bond between a father and son, as seen through a mother’s eyes. Said to be inspired by the relationship between her husband Prince Harry and their son Archie, Markle’s publishing debut
Known as a producer of award-winning Canadian documentary and narrative films, a showrunner and, more recently, as the cofounder of Canada’s newly minted Black Screen Office, Jennifer Holness is chatting up her feature-doc directorial debut, “Subjects of Desire,” this week at Hot Docs where it screens in Special Presentations. In an interview with Variety before
Sarah Silverman is set to star opposite Blair Underwood in the upcoming psychological thriller “Viral” from York Films. The independent film, written by Joe McClean, centers on Andrew (Underwood), a man dealing with the disappearance of his wife. As Andrew falls deeper into paranoia, he finds that the only way out of the self-destructive cycle
How much would you pay to have an intimate video-conferencing session with Madonna, Amy Schumer, Laura Dern, Jennifer Lopez or Judd Apatow? Bright, a startup founded by investor and music manager Guy Oseary (whose clients include Madonna and U2) and former YouTube exec Michael Powers, is going to test the market for live, ticketed events
Asian films feature prominently on the debut slate of Crescendo House, a newly-launched distributor in North America. The company aims to take a boutique and curatorial approach at a time when streaming is changing the sector. Each film will receive an exclusive, limited edition, collector’s home video release featuring bespoke artwork, packaging, and hours of
Pink will be honored with the Icon Award at this year’s Billboard Music Awards on May 23. Pink is also set to perform at the awards show. She’ll join the nine other Icon Award recipients since the honor was instituted in 2011: Garth Brooks, Mariah Carey, Janet Jackson, Cher, Prince, Stevie Wonder, Neil Diamond, Jennifer
Warner Music Group posted strong results for the quarter that ended March 31, with $117 million in net income on revenues of $1.25 billion. While it’s hardly an apples-to-apples comparison, that’s a big improvement from the same quarter a year ago, when the company posted a $48 million net income loss. Streaming soared 23.2% while
The new Wasserman Music agency and livestreaming service Twitch have partnered to launch “There is Light,” an indie-centric channel and concert series. The series will present 20 live concerts from independent music venues in the U.S. and U.K., starting with a May 4 — tonight — performance by Perfume Genius at the Lodge Room in
Quiver Distribution has acquired U.S. rights to “The Exchange,” a new comedy from the co-creator of “Borat” and “Bruno.” Directed by Dan Mazer, an Oscar nominee for writing the “Borat” movies and the maker of “Dirty Grandpa,” the film follows a socially awkward but highly enterprising teenager who decides to acquire a “mail-order best friend.”
Billie Eilish, Post Malone, Megan Thee Stallion A$AP Rocky, J Balvin, Da Baby and many more are scheduled to perform at the 10 th anniversary edition of Governors Ball, New York’s largest music festival, on the weekend of Sept. 24-26 at the the Citi Field complex in the city’s borough of Queens. Other top-billed performers
Twitter is continuing down the path of looking to add new subscription services to diversify its revenue beyond ads. On Tuesday, the social network announced that it has acquired Scroll, a company that has sold a $5-per-month subscription that lets users read articles on participating news sites without ads — and shares some of that
When Variety interviewed the Weeknd over the weekend about the Grammys’ decision to eliminate nomination-review committees (more on that here), we naturally slipped in a question about the new music he recently hinted at in social media posts, which presumably will be the follow-up to his blockbuster 2020 album, “After Hours.” To our surprise, he
Now hear this: The 2021 Tribeca Festival announced its inaugural official podcast selections and special events, the first time a major fest is welcoming podcasts into its lineup. The first Tribeca Podcasts lineup features world premieres of 12 fiction and nonfiction podcasts from emerging creators (listed below), as well as panel discussions and other special
Sinclair Broadcast Group said Tuesday it intends to start selling its linear and digital ad inventory based on a “common impression-based currency,” joining the ranks of other local-station owners moving to change the nature of their transactions with Madison Avenue as technology spurs new ways consumers watch their video favorites. Sinclair, which owns and/or operates
J-Hope, a member of the seven-piece K-pop group BTS, has donated KRW100 million ($90,000) to help children in Africa, it was reported on Tuesday. The same day HYBE Corporation, the powerhouse agency behind BTS, revealed that its first quarter profits had increased by 11% compared with last year. J-Hope made his donation through Seoul-based ChildFund