Rome’s MIA market, the growing showcase for international TV series, feature films and documentaries, is on track to hold its sixth edition both physically and online on Oct.14-18 in the Italian capital. The new-concept mart – whose acronym stands for Mercato Internazionale Audiovisivo, or International Audiovisual Market – has secured a calendar spot as an important
Grasshopper Film has picked up North American distribution rights to Paul Felten and Joe DeNardo’s “Slow Machine,” ahead of the film’s premiere at the 58th annual New York Film Festival this week. Set to release theatrically next year, the film is billed as a “miniature epic” of paranoia, espionage, subterfuge, music and performance on 16mm.
Foo Fighters, Miley Cyrus, Dave Matthews, the Roots, Brittany Howard, G-Eazy, Leon Bridges, YG, Finneas and Phoebe Bridgers are just some of the 35 acts who will perform at the #SOSFEST, a three-day virtual music festival to spread awareness of the $10 billion Save Our Stages Act currently before Congress, and raise funds for independent
Italian sales company True Colours has taken international sales on two spanking new Cinema Italiano titles with strong cast elements in the leadup to Rome’s MIA market: “The Girl and the Giants,” a dark fable starring Valeria Golino, and Rome-set psychological thriller “The Guest Room,” toplining International Emmy-nominated Guido Caprino. True Colours chief Gaetano Maiorino
“Wonder Woman 1984” director Patty Jenkins has warned that shutting cinemas down and keeping audiences away from movie theaters “will not be a reversible process.” “We could lose movie theater-going forever,” said Jenkins in an interview with news agency Reuters. The Gal Gadot-starring “Wonder Woman 1984” has been delayed three times due to the global
This week, Barcelona-based filmmaker Kike Maíllo’s “A Perfect Enemy” will world premiere at Catalonia’s Sitges Film Festival, playing in the event’s Official Fantastic Competition. Ahead of its Oct. 16 premiere, sales agent Pulsar Content has given Variety access to the film’s international trailer. An adaptation of Amélie Nothomb’s bestselling novel “Cosmétique de l’Ennemi,” the film
Fatima Salaria, managing director of Fremantle-backed outfit Naked, is the new executive chair of The Edinburgh TV Festival and its umbrella charity The TV Foundation, taking over from So Television co-founder Graham Stuart who is leaving after three years in the position. Salaria (pictured, left) will oversee the festival and foundation’s executive committee and work
Arthouse streaming service Mubi has snapped up rights to Toronto International Film Festival title “Shiva Baby” for the U.K., Ireland, Germany, Austria, India, Turkey and Latin America. Written and directed by Canadian filmmaker Emma Seligman, “Shiva Baby” follows a young bisexual Jewish woman at a shiva — a mourning tradition in the Jewish community —
Mooky Greidinger, CEO of the Cineworld multiplex group, has written to U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson, asking him to reinstate the government furlough scheme, he revealed in a letter to employees on Wednesday. The furlough scheme helped the company pay employees when cinemas were forced to close due to the spread of the coronavirus pandemic.
Revving up its streaming service expansion in Europe, ViacomCBS will launch leading AVOD service Pluto TV in Spain from the end of October. It will then roll out Pluto TV in France and Italy in 2021, the French launch being set for first quarter 2021, ViacomCBS Networks Intl. revealed Thursday. Coming less than a month
Variety's Awards Circuit is home to the official predictions for the upcoming Oscars from Film Awards Editor Clayton Davis. Following Academy Awards history, buzz, news, reviews and sources, the Oscar predictions are updated regularly with the current year's contenders in all categories. Variety's Awards Circuit Prediction schedule consists of four phases, running all year long:
Variety's Awards Circuit is home to the official predictions for the upcoming Oscars from Film Awards Editor Clayton Davis. Following Academy Awards history, buzz, news, reviews and sources, the Oscar predictions are updated regularly with the current year's contenders in all categories. Variety's Awards Circuit Prediction schedule consists of four phases, running all year long:
Variety's Awards Circuit is home to the official predictions for the upcoming Oscars from Film Awards Editor Clayton Davis. Following Academy Awards history, buzz, news, reviews and sources, the Oscar predictions are updated regularly with the current year's contenders in all categories. Variety's Awards Circuit Prediction schedule consists of four phases, running all year long:
Sid Gentle Films, the BAFTA and Emmy award-winning producers behind “Killing Eve” and “The Durrells,” headed by Sally Woodward Gentle (pictured below), has acquired the rights to develop Cash Carraway’s “Skint Estate” for TV, and has lined up a lead writer for previously announced “Taking Up Space.” Both projects are in formal development with British
Lena Waithe’s single-camera comedy “Twenties” has found its U.K. home at BBC Three, where it will debut this fall. A key title in ViacomCBS International Studios (VIS) Distribution’s original scripted content slate, the show has also sold to New Zealand SVOD platform Neon where it streams this month. The British public service broadcaster has acquired
Uday Shankar will step down as president, The Walt Disney Company Asia Pacific and chairman, Star & Disney India, effective Dec. 31, 2020. He will now pursue an entrepreneurial career. Shankar will work with Rebecca Campbell, chair of Disney’s direct-to-consumer and international segment to identify his successor. Shankar was in his role from February 2019.
When asked directly about attending the Rose Garden event that has now been linked to dozens of COVID-19 diagnoses within the White House, with new ones reported every day, Vice President Mike Pence dodged to commend “the American people” on their ability to make good decisions. But the question wasn’t about how the American people
When it comes to low-budget horror movies, even the good ones tend to slip by unnoticed, which probably explains why “Salem” creators Brannon Braga and Adam Simon were drawn to a brand name like Clive Barker’s “Books of Blood” to package their otherwise generic Hulu horror anthology. Less a proper feature than the ersatz pilot
Sen. Kamala Harris blasted the Trump administration’s “incompetent” response to COVID-19 at Wednesday night’s debate, calling it the “greatest failure” of any administration. Vice President Mike Pence defended the administration and accused Harris and Joe Biden of seeking to pack the Supreme Court if Judge Amy Coney Barrett is confirmed. The debate had a calmer
SPOILER ALERT: Do not read ahead if you have not watched Season 4, Episode 3 of “The Masked Singer,” which aired Oct. 7 on Fox. “The Masked Singer” has said 9021-“no” to Brian Austin Green, who’s the third celebrity to be unmasked this season. The “Beverly Hills 90210” alum, who had been disguised as the
“For Life” star Nicholas Pinnock has been made a producer on the second season of the ABC legal drama from Hank Steinberg and Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson, Variety has learned exclusively. The British actor stars as a man who has lost everything after being unjustly convicted and incarcerated; he subsequently earns a law degree and
Chicago deep dish staple Lou Malnati’s Pizzeria is not too happy with Netflix’s newest show, “Emily in Paris.” The restaurant sent out a media statement today expressing their disappointment with the series, which threw an insult at the chain in its premiere episode. Created by “Sex and the City’s” Darren Star, “Emily in Paris” stars
Variety’s spoke with “The Walking Dead” star Lauren Cohan in light of her return to the series as the character of Maggie Rhee. Cohan’s return was meant to be part of the Season 10 finale, but that episode is no longer the finale as it turns out. In light of the production delays caused by
Carlos Watson, co-founder and CEO of Ozy Media, started his company in 2013 as a digital magazine venture that was dubbed by one reader “the love child of Vice and the Economist.” Watson’s ambition for Ozy Media has grown to include TV series, podcasts and a traveling festival featuring top thinkers and entrepreneurs. On the
Leaders of SAG-AFTRA are in a bitter jurisdictional battle with Actors Equity over which union should cover the taping of live events. The dispute went public Wednesday, when SAG-AFTRA President Gabrielle Carteris and National Executive Director David White delivered a message to members that they are willing to offer a waiver in order to create
For the past 27 years the Hamptons Intl. Film Festival meant fancy cocktail hours, plenty of celebrity sightings and the unspooling of award season’s buzziest films. The 28th annual edition, like everything in 2020, will feel different. The Long Island-based fest, which runs Oct. 8-14, will be virtual and offer a select number of drive-in
British Academy of Film and Television Arts has announced the 2020 participants of its Newcomers Program. The program expanded to New York for the first time in its history and accepted a record number of first-year female participants. The initiative to support emerging industry professionals boasts international talent from 20 countries – the U.K., Australia,
Carlos Santana has joined the ranks of stoner icons like Snoop Dogg, Willie Nelson and Wiz Khalifa with his own cannabis brand. Mirayo is a line of premium products in partnership with Santa Rosa, Calif.-based Left Coast Ventures, the company that also produces such brands as Marley Natural and Grateful Dead drummer Mickey Hart’s Mind
Vice President Mike Pence and Sen. Kamala Harris will hold their vice presidential debate tonight. With Election Day looming, Pence and Harris will face off at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City, Utah, from 9 to 10:30 p.m. ET. The candidates are expected to discuss President Donald Trump’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic,
Facebook, trying to further instill confidence that its powerful platform won’t interfere with the 2020 U.S. elections, announced an expanded set of policies — including prohibiting ads after polls close Nov. 3. Among other steps: Facebook said it will remove posts from anyone to engage in poll watching “when those calls use militarized language or