After a year that tested their limits and redefined landscapes, leaders in France’s entertainment industry share thoughts on their top achievements, the pandemic’s long-term impact and what’s on the horizon for them in 2021. THIERRY FREMAUXDirector, Cannes Film Festival / Director, Institut Lumiere What is the single thing — material or otherwise — getting you
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In today’s Global Bulletin, “The Mandalorian” finishes 2020 as the world’s most torrented series, Universal Music Group announces three key appointments in Africa and Beyond Rights deals “Pooch Perfect” format in Europe. PIRATING Disney Plus’ “The Mandalorian” is the new king of the internet high seas according to analysis from TorrentFreak, which concluded that the
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The cast of “Hamilton” assembled on the “Zoom where it happens” for a Screen Actors Guild Q&A on Saturday afternoon, their first stop on the awards circuit. Tony Award winners Lin-Manuel Miranda, Daveed Diggs, Renée Elise Goldsberry and Leslie Odom Jr came together along with Jonathan Groff, Christopher Jackson, Jasmine Cephas Jones, Okieriete Onaodowan, Phillipa
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Alexi Laiho, former singer and guitarist of Finnish metal outfit Children of Bodom, died due to complications from unspecified “long-term health issues,” according to statements from his label, Napalm Records, and most recent band. He was 41. Laiho had been singer of the band Bodom After Midnight since his former group broke up in 2019.
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Sometimes inspiration comes from the most unexpected places. Two years ago, AMC Networks executives were impressed with the performance of the first season of a low-profile genre series co-produced in the U.K. with Comcast’s Sky that premiered on AMC’s arthouse-y streaming service Sundance Now in January 2019. “A Discovery of Witches” has become the little
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Maud (Glenda Jackson) can’t trust her own mind to be honest with her, and its rapid deterioration isn’t just frustrating; it’s downright infuriating. At first, she’s able to keep her head in one piece by stuffing her pockets with scribbled notes (“Don’t forget to lock up,” “Elizabeth, Salvation Army, 10 o’clock”). Soon enough, though, they
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Paris-based sales outfit Charades has boarded Louis-Julien Petit’s “The Kitchen Brigade” and Emmanuel Poulain-Arnaud’s “The Test.” Charades will begin sales on the pair of French films at the virtual UniFrance Rendez-Vous with French Cinema, which kicks off Jan. 13. “The Kitchen Brigade” marks Petit’s follow up to “Invisibles,” a comedy-drama that tells the true story
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Several Western media outlets have reported the disappearance of Jack Ma, China’s most prominent businessman, and co-founder of e-commerce and entertainment giant Alibaba. Some reports claim Ma hasn’t been seen in public for some two months. Although he is no longer a senior executive at Alibaba, Ma remains the controlling shareholder of Ant Group, a
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Universal Music Group has announced a strategic expansion of its Sub-Saharan Africa leadership team, with Sipho Dlamini and Elouise Kelly named CEO and COO of Universal Music South Africa and Sub-Saharan Africa, respectively, and Chinedu Okeke named managing director of Universal Music Nigeria. Dlamini will continue to oversee all of UMG’s operations within English-speaking Africa.
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Quibi, after its high-profile collapse, may be close to landing a deal with Roku to sell rights to its multimillion-dollar lineup of original shows. Quibi, the startup led by Jeffrey Katzenberg and Meg Whitman, is in “advanced talks” on a pact with Roku to acquire streaming rights to the Quibi catalog, the Wall Street Journal
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Prolific British songwriter Geoff Stephens has died at the age of 86, his family confirmed to Variety Sunday. His songs include Grammy winner “Winchester Cathedral,” “There’s a Kind of Hush,” and “The Crying Game,” which was the theme song of Neil Jordan’s Oscar-winning film of the same title. London-born Stephens, who died on Dec. 24,
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Sweden’s Göteborg Film Festival, the biggest movie-TV event in Scandinavia, looks set to stage one of the most dramatic experiments in on-site fest screenings in a COVID-19 age, isolating a single film enthusiast on the bleak North Sea lighthouse island of Pater Noster. There, totally alone, with no iPhone nor even a book, they will
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Disney/Pixar’s “Soul” continues to charm China with sales of $13.8 million over its second weekend, more than double its $5.5 million Christmas debut, thanks to strong word of mouth. It was the highest-grossing foreign import of the New Year weekend, far outstripping “Wonder Woman 1984” and even Hayao Miyazaki’s older but beloved animation “Ponyo.” The
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Amid surging COVID-19 cases in Southern California following the holidays, SAG-AFTRA, the Producers Guild of America and the Joint Policy Committee are together recommending a “temporary hold on in-person production in Southern California.” Together, the organizations represent thousands of actors, producers, commercial advertisers and ad agencies. “Southern California hospitals are facing a crisis the likes
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