The best reality show I watched this year unfolded not on my TV but through an app on my computer screen. In April, a month into quarantine with no end in sight, some friends asked if I wanted to play a virtual version of “The Circle,” Netflix’s already lockdown-friendly series in which contestants live in
In an unusual move, Apple has agreed to not collect the App Store’s 30% “tax” on purchases made through Facebook’s app for live paid events — but only through the end of 2020. Moreover, Apple will still take a 30% cut of paid livestreams from creators using the Facebook Gaming app. The ongoing clash of
Singer Lata Mangeshkar, dubbed Nightingale of India, turns 90 on Sept. 28 and in honor of the woman who made the Guinness Book of World Records for 25,000 songs recorded we at Variety chose 25 of our favorite tunes from Bollywood. There were many more we could choose, including duets with Hemant Kumar or Mohammed
Breaking News L.A. Lakers guard J.R. Smith is clapping back at Tory Lanez after getting DISSED on his latest album … calling the artist a “clown” and a “lil ass boy.” A bit of a refresher — the NBA vet was outspoken after Megan Thee Stallion accused Tory of shooting her in July … saying,
A survey of concert pros conducted by the trade magazine Pollstar finds some interesting splits between optimism and continued wariness as the industry tries to forecast what lies immediately ahead for their battered and still largely shut down business. “It is encouraging that over half of all respondents, 54.7%, believe the industry will return to
Tory Lanez finally broke his silence about allegedly shooting Megan Thee Stallion, but only in song — he dropped a new record that includes a full denial. The rapper released a 17-track album Thursday night called “DayStar,” and nearly every song seems to be about the altercation with Megan back in July when they were
Film Movement has acquired North American rights to “My Little Sister,” a poignant drama that will represent Switzerland in the international feature film race at the Oscars. “My Little Sister,” penned and directed by Stéphanie Chuat and Véronique Reymond, is handled in international markets by Beta Cinema. The Swiss drama world premiered at the Berlinale
A payment system claiming to automate the collection, tracking and allocation of film company revenues, as well as predicting future box-office success, was the second tech firm to pitch at the Zinemaldia Start Up Challenge, which broadcast live from San Sebastian Film Festival online Friday. A regular on the international film festival circuit, the U.K.-based
An Israeli-produced series debuting on Apple TV Plus, “Tehran” is a show that looks at Iran through an alternately adversarial and nostalgic lens. The protagonist, Mossad agent Tamar Rabinyan (Niv Sultan), infiltrates the nation following an emergency landing of a passenger jet in the capital city; she is on a mission that, should it succeed,
Basque filmmaker Ángel Amigo has drawn inspiration from courtroom sketch techniques for his documentary “Voces del pasado imperfecto” (Voices From the Imperfect Past), about the 1970 trial of ETA militants in Burgos, Spain under the dictatorship of Francisco Franco. Making a virtue out of necessity, because of the lack of visual material, the documentary applies
In the absence of trustworthy institutions and the constant simmering resentment pulsing through politics and culture alike, the concept of some vast conspiracy tying all the disparate threads together must be, in its own twisted way, a comfort. When life feels particularly scattered, and faith in brighter days has dimmed, the idea that there are
Contemporary problems call for contemporary solutions, and with streaming changing the way audiences consume their content and spend their money, companies around the world are looking for ways to make an impact on the VOD marketplace. One such company is trans-Atlantic startup The Fifth Wall, which participated in this year’s Zinemaldia Startup Challenge at the
Two people severely injured in a knife attack outside the former Paris office of French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo are staff at production company Premieres Lignes, which made HBO documentary “Three Days of Terror: The Charlie Hebdo Attacks.” Variety has confirmed with Premieres Lignes co-director Paul Moreira that two of the company’s producers were involved
“In 2016, after the final trial took place about my case, I looked at the big box of correspondence sent to me during almost three years in prison,” recounts writer and director Arantza Santesteban in a cafe at the San Sebastian film festival. “I opened the box and looked at the letters. It was at
Viggo Mortensen is in San Sebastian this week with his directorial debut “Falling” to receive one of this year’s prestigious Donostia awards. On Thursday afternoon, the multi-hyphenate filmmaker held a press conference ahead of the evening’s award ceremony. Admitting nervousness, the actor graciously thanked the festival for the double honor of the career achievement award
The firestorm over controversial Netflix film “Cuties,” which led to a huge spike in U.S. customer cancellations following its debut earlier this month, burned out after a few days, according to new data. “Cuties” tells the story of an 11-year-old Senegalese girl living in Paris who struggles to find her identity, torn between her family’s
Producer Juan Segundo Álamos was in San Sebastian to showcase “Los restos fósiles” (The Fossilized Remains), the debut feature film from award-winning Argentinian director Jerónimo Quevedo. At WIP Latam, the new San Sebastian Industry initiative focused on Latin American productions at the post-production stage, a half-hour taster of the film was screened. It’s inspired by
Amazon Prime Video hosted a San Sebastian press conference for its new Spanish docu-series “The Challenge: ETA,” sharing a new trailer for the program and announcing that the series will be made available to stream around the world on Oct. 30. The well-attended panel, also streamed on San Sebastian’s website, was hosted by Oscar Prol,
Speaking via live stream at NewImages Festival on Thursday, Tony Parisi, global head of AR/VR ad innovation at Unity Technologies, and one of virtual reality pioneers, made his point clear: real-time technologies that entertain us today will be used to help us work and communicate in the future. During his keynote speech “The Real-Time Revolution
The 40 projects (see link here) presented at NewImages’ XR Financing Market go before a panel of industry professionals, who offer their unvarnished advice, critiques and praise. To get a better sense of what moved the industry this year, Variety spoke with two participating decision makers. Paul Bouchard, Diversion Cinema, head of XR acquisitions and
In an emerging landscape marked by dynamism and evolution, it doesn’t take long for new actors to become old stalwarts. Which goes a long way in explaining how Montreal’s Phi Centre – a multidisciplinary arts and culture organization with a gallery front in the city’s historic core – has gone from VR novice to one
Singer S. P. Balasubrahmanyam who lent his mellifluous voice to some 40,000 songs across thousands of Indian film soundtracks, died in Chennai on Friday after contracting coronavirus in August. He was 74. Balasubrahmanyam was a frequent muse for Oscar-, BAFTA-, Grammy- and Golden Globe-winning composer A.R. Rahman, for whom he sang in numerous films, including
Play video content Exclusive TMZ.com Gigi Gorgeous says ‘Harry Potter’ used to mean something to her, but on the heels of a new anti-trans controversy involving J.K. Rowling … that’s all changed. The popular trans influencer was leaving Delilah in WeHo when we asked her about Rowling promoting an online store that sells transphobic merch.
There are plenty of dramas that look different with time, but it’s the peculiar fate of “The Boys in the Band,” Mart Crowley’s groundbreaking 1968 play, to have been so buffeted by changing times that the play keeps changing its identity. At this point, in fact, I’d say that there are five stages of “The
Chinese authorities have registered and approved a new project written by Hong Kong-based auteur Wong Kar-wai, listed as “Chungking Express 2020.” According to an official filing on the National Film Bureau’s website, the script was submitted for government approval in Shanghai in April, and was approved on Wednesday, Sept. 23. This means it can now
Historical novel “Suheldev – The King Who Saved India,” by bestselling Indian author Amish Tripathi, who goes just by Amish as a pen name, will be adapted as a feature film. The film, set in the 11th century, when Turkic armies led by ruler Mahmud of Ghazni repeatedly invaded northern India, will follow Suheldev, an
Netflix has acquired the Finnish movie “Bordertown – The Mural Murders,” a spinoff of the popular Nordic crime series which is now in its third season. Produced by Matti Halonen and Johannes Lassila at Fisher King, “Bordertown – The Mural Murders” will start shooting next month and will be released theatrically in Finland by the
Rapper Tory Lanez, who Megan Thee Stallion has accused of shooting her in the foot in an unexplained incident in July, dropped a 17-track album Thursday night in which nearly every song addresses the incident and its fallout, and what Lanez apparently perceives as betrayal from nearly all quarters. The new album, “Daystar,” may forever
By now, there have been enough movies and TV dramas focused on the fraying ties between individuals gradually diminished by Alzheimer’s disease and their supportive but increasingly stressed loved ones to constitute an entire subgenre. If “The Artist’s Wife” stands apart from the pack, it’s largely because this familiar but affecting drama spends less time
Suzanne Lindon, the 20-year old star and filmmaker of “Spring Blossom,” was born into French cinema royalty, being the daughter of famed French actors Vincent Lindon and Sandrine Kiberlain; but the spirited young woman was determined early on to plow her own path towards acting. While Lindon initially wrote “Spring Blossom” as a vehicle to