It’s been said about the Civil War that the South lost the war but won the narrative, rewriting history to soften its motives while enacting laws to uphold a uniquely American form of apartheid. In the face of more than a century and a half of such malignant propaganda, terrifying social thriller “Antebellum” lands like
The Producers Guild of America has issued an extensive safety guide for independent producers as they return to work amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The PGA, which has more than 8,000 members, unveiled the 57-page document Monday with detailed recommendations on testing, maintaining physical distancing and wearing personal protective equipment. It includes “red light protocols”
Maipo Film, the leading Norwegian production banner behind “The Crossing” and “State of Happiness,” has acquired Oslo-based Friland Production, whose credits include the Nikolaj Coster-Waldau starrer “Headhunters.” Following Maipo’s acquisition, Christian Fredrik Martin, Friland’s owner and producer, is joining Maipo as a producer. Besides “Headhunters,” Friland’s track record also comprises Netflix’s romantic drama “Battle,” about
“Power” fans eagerly awaiting the continuing adventures of Tommy Egan just caught a break. Variety has learned that the Starz spinoff series built around the character will no longer be the last “Power” spinoff to debut. When Starz originally ordered the four “Power” spinoffs earlier this year, the Tommy spinoff was slated to debut last and
Nielsen estimates that there are 121 million home with televisions for the 2020-2021 TV season, a 0.3% uptick from 120.6 million last year. According to the data analytic and measurement company, the number of persons age 2 and older in American TV households edged up 0.2% from last year to 307.9 million, including a 1.9%
Following the tragic death of Chadwick Boseman Friday, ABC aired “Black Panther” and a tribute to Boseman on Sunday night. Both programs scored big numbers for the Disney-owned network, as viewers tuned in to see the likes of fellow “Avengers” stars Scarlett Johansson, Don Cheadle, Jeremy Renner, Winston Duke, Mark Ruffalo, and Paul Rudd discuss
In an episode late in the first season of the new series “Get Organized with The Home Edit,” the actress Jordana Brewster tells the show’s hosts, two professional organizers, that she wants them to make her fridge “look like a store, like you do.” When the fridge has been completed, with products facing label-forward in
Hxouse, the Toronto-based skills incubator launched by The Weeknd, his creative director La Mar Taylor and Influencers PR’s Ahmed Islamil, announced that TD Bank Group has become a founding sponsor of its leadership and entrepreneurial development initiative, Black Hxouse. The initiative aims to empower BIPOC (Black, indigenous, people of color) individuals with mentorship, tools, learning and networking
Stephen Schwartz, the musical maestro behind such iconic shows as “Pippin” and “Wicked,” will be the subject of a new documentary from John Scheinfeld. Entitled “Defying Gravity: From Godspell to Wicked, A Musical Journey,” the film will commence production in 2021 and will track the highs and lows of Schwartz’s remarkable career. Scheinfeld is no
Netflix has released a smattering of original movies and series completely free to stream — no account needed. The streamer’s new “Watch Free” site, available free to any internet user worldwide, is a bid to land new paying customers: Each of the titles available free has a pre-roll sizzle reel highlighting a range of Netflix
Poorly recorded, pirated versions of Christopher Nolan’s “Tenet” leaked online last week. Both are camcorded copies of negligible quality — at least one has Korean subtitles and another has German subtitles. It is unclear how widely seen the illegal copies of the sci-fi thriller were, but it comes as theaters are starting a major campaign
“Get on Up” director Tate Taylor pays tribute to actor Chadwick Boseman, who died Aug. 28 of colon cancer at age 43. Chadwick and I were on our way to Augusta, Georgia to meet James Brown’s family. We were hopeful the Browns would give our unlikely pairing the blessing to tell the story of the
SoundExchange has announced the appointment of Esther-Mireya Tejeda as chief marketing and communications officer. Tejeda will report to SoundExchange President and CEO Michael Huppe. According to the announcement, Tejeda will oversee the company’s brand strategy and marketing, global communications and public relations, industry relations, and public policy groups as well as a team of nearly
Russian World War II drama “Saving Leningrad” has sold to several major territories, including the U.S., the U.K., Germany, France, Japan, South Korea and China. The film was sold to Capelight for Germany and the U.S., Signature Entertainment for the U.K., Kinovista in France, New Select in Japan, iQIYI in China, Super Vision Trading in
In 1968, during Brazil’s military dictatorship, singer-songwriter, Caetano Veloso – who the preceding year had been among founders of the revolutionary Tropicalia artistic movement – was arrested on trumped-up charges. Veloso was taken from his São Paulo home to Rio de Janeiro, where he was placed in solitary confinement for one week and held behind
Local project “Another World” and “Stranger Eyes” from Singapore took the top awards at the Hong Kong Asia Film Financing Forum (HAF), the first time that the nearly two-decade old project market has been held as a virtual edition. Produced by Polly Yeung and to be directed by Ng Kai-chung, “Another World” is an animated
AMC Entertainment is selling off nine of its Baltic theaters in a €65 million ($77 million) deal. The company said Monday that it has signed a deal to sell nine venues across Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia — cinemas AMC took on as part of its $929 million acquisition of Nordic Cinema Group in 2017. UP
Social unrest and the COVID-19 pandemic have not been able to stop the sixth edition of the Bangkok ASEAN Film Festival from taking place as an in-person event. It runs this week Sept. 3-6, 2020. The four-day festival features a line-up of films from ASEAN member nations including “Rom” by Tran Thanh Huy from Vietnam,
Cannes chief Thierry Fremaux and veteran French filmmaker Bertrand Tavernier, the duo behind the Lumiere Institut and its heritage film festival in Lyon, penned an open letter to support movie theaters. As in many countries around the world, France has seen its theaters struggle through the summer due to the dearth of fresh releases, as
This year’s crop of Conecta Fiction short form series presentations offer up young, mostly female ensemble casts and a healthy dash of dark humor. The five finalists – which include three Spanish entries, one Portuguese script and another from Argentina – will pitch their half-hour episode projects on site at Pamplona’s Baluarte Palace of Congress
Before proceeding any further, let’s acknowledge the clear superstars of the 2020 MTV Video Music Awards: Lady Gaga’s mask designers. They should be given his own awards, at some point, for being the individual who kept us on the edge of our seats during a show that has never drummed up much suspense about winners,
No one expected this year’s MTV VMAs to be typical. The event, which usually takes place at an arena like New York’s Barclays Center, was forced to go virtual this year due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, but that didn’t stop the network from trying its best to keep the spirit of a live show, well,
Korean cinemagoers came out to see “Tenet,” but their enthusiasm extended almost no further, as coronavirus cases resurge in the world’s number four box office market. And Korean cinema operators are retrenching. “Tenet,” the much-anticipated time-looping spy thriller earned $2.90 million from 353,000 ticket sales over the Friday to Sunday weekend. It played on 2,216
Chinese war film, “The Eight Hundred” was the highest scoring film in the world over the weekend. According to data from Artisan Gateway, “The Eight Hundred” grossed $69 million between Friday and Sunday, its second weekend on release in China. That compares with the $53 million total achieved by “Tenet” in the 41 international territories
Not even a pandemic was going to stop Lady Gaga from serving up some seriously iconic looks at the 2020 MTV VMAs. With her creative team — director and designer Nicola Formichetti, makeup artist Sarah Tanno, stylist Marta del Rio and hairstylist Frederic Aspiras — did not disappoint fans or fashion, collecting some of the
CBS All Access has released the first teaser for its upcoming adaptation of “The Stand.” The short teaser, clocking in at just 30 seconds, aired during Sunday night’s MTV Video Music Awards. It briefly shows Whoopi Goldberg as Mother Abagail, introducing herself to Frannie Goldsmith (Odessa Young) in a cornfield and beckoning her, “you come
SiriusXM and the Blues Foundation are set to announce on Monday that they’re teaming up for the latter org to provide content for the B.B. King’s Bluesville channel. The collaboration will have the Foundation providing archival content from signature events like its annual Blues Hall of Fame induction events, along with the broadcast premiere of
BTS debuted the first television performance of its new single “Dynamite” during Sunday night’s MTV Video Music Awards. Following the retro-themed, history-making music video that dropped on Aug. 21, the South Korean boy band — made up of RM, Jin, Suga, j-hope, Jimin, V and Jungkook — delivered fresh disco choreography with pitch-perfect vocals. BTS
“Rain on Me,” the hit duet by Lady Gaga and Ariana Grande was the centerpiece of an elaborate medley of songs from Gaga’s latest album, “Chromatica,” on Sunday night’s MTV Video Music Awards. Following the same futuristic theme and bright-pink color scheme as the song’s music video, Gaga, Grande and a troop of dancers delivered
Host Keke Palmer began this year’s MTV VMAs by dedicating the show to Chadwick Boseman, the late star of “Black Panther” who died on Friday at 43 due to colon cancer. “We dedicate tonight’s show to a man whose spirit touched so many,” Palmer said. “He is a true hero, not just on screen, but