It’s been 10 years since “The Kids Are All Right,” a queer family dramedy that was the darling of that year’s Sundance Film Festival, charted an unlikely ride to the Oscars and helped shift popular opinion about gay marriage. Written by Lisa Cholodenko and Stuart Blumberg, and directed by Cholodenko, the movie arrived as attitudes
For the better part of the past decade, broadcasters around the world have seen their numbers erode as viewers turn their backs on mid-budget local programs and acquisitions from U.S. networks and gravitate toward sexy, boundary-breaking dramas with universal appeal from the likes of Netflix and Amazon Prime. In recent years, those broadcasters and telcos
Variety partnered with U.K.-based consultancy Ampere Analysis to delve into the top local and regional ad-supported and pay TV services that are competing with behemoths like Netflix and Amazon. For more, click here. Germany is Europe’s leading SVOD market, with almost 34 million subscribers, according to Ampere Analysis. While Amazon and Netflix havebuilt up substantial
Variety partnered with U.K.-based consultancy Ampere Analysis to delve into the top local and regional ad-supported and pay TV services that are competing with behemoths like Netflix and Amazon. For more, click here. In France’s competitive market, OCS, the pay TV service of French telco Orange, has been able to lure more than 3 million subscribers,
Variety partnered with U.K.-based consultancy Ampere Analysis to delve into the top local and regional ad-supported and pay TV services that are competing with behemoths like Netflix and Amazon. For more, click here. As Disney Plus launched in the U.S. to great fanfare in the fourth quarter of 2019, its reverberations reached the U.K., where,
Spain-based leading European kids producer Planeta Junior has acquired a stake in ZAG Entertainment, the banner behind the popular “Miraculous” franchise. The deal, which marks a new step in the long-lasting relationship between both companies, is estimated at €300 million ($353 million), according to a source close to the pact. The amount of the stake
The Weeknd will hop on the virtual stage in TikTok’s app next week for a special augmented-reality, live-streamed concert featuring songs from his hit album “After Hours.” “The Weeknd Experience,” created by TikTok in partnership with XO, Republic Records, and Scooter Braun-backed virtual concert startup Wave, will feature a performance by the Grammy-winning R&B-pop artist,
A$AP Ferg has dropped a new single called “Move Ya Hips,” a collaboration with Nicki Minaj and MadeinTYO that is about, well, moving your hips. (Can’t say we’re in love with the rather sexist video but none of the artists are featured in it.) The song is the third collaboration between Ferg and Minaj, following
AMC’s British programming-focused streamer Acorn TV has commissioned eight-part procedural “Cannes Confidential.” The series is a co-production between Dramacorp, the Stockholm-based production company founded by Patrick Nebout, part of Jan Mojto’s Beta Film, and Acorn Media Enterprises, Acorn TV’s commissioning and co-producing arm. Lead writer is prolific U.K. scribe Chris Murray, whose credits include “Casualty,”
NBCUniversal’s television group is adopting a new structure, under which it will “shift resources from linear to streaming,” NBCU CEO Jeff Shell said on Comcast’s second-quarter 2020 call. In May, Shell put TV programming boss Mark Lazarus in charge of a new group, NBCUniversal Television and Streaming, overseeing Peacock along with the networks, stations and
Rising British singer-songwriter Jorja Smith — whose 2018 full-length debut, “Lost & Found,” was one of Variety’s top albums of 2018 — today dropped the new track “By Any Means,” the lead single from Roc Nation’s upcoming “Reprise” project. Listen to it below. Smith has often addressed social issues in her music: her 2016 breakout
It may be the dawn of a new era: Freshman series, especially in the unscripted categories, are having their moment with the Television Academy. Of 15 nominees across competition, unstructured and structured programs, almost half (seven) were newcomers to the Emmy race, with six of those seeing accolades their first time eligible. In unstructured, this
A whole host of shows signed off with tearful goodbyes this year, but only a couple have been handed big shots at Emmys gold to reward their curtain calls. The final season winner is undoubtedly Pop’s “Schitt’s Creek,” which scored a staggering 15 nominations, placing it in a tie for fifth place in the overall
There was more choice than ever before when it came to marking the 72nd Annual Primetime Emmy Awards nomination ballots, but that choice proved to be a good thing. Nearly all the newly launched direct-to-consumer services — namely, Apple TV Plus, Disney Plus and Quibi — had a good showing, possibly signaling a further shift
Five months into the coronavirus pandemic, and Television Academy voters already seem to be over the plethora of remotely produced content created during, and in response to, the new social-distancing health and safety guidelines. Only one such program, Food Network’s “Amy Schumer Learns to Cook: Lunch Break and Pasta Night,” scored a nomination at the
The Emmys documentary categories aren’t often at the top of many people’s lists of highly anticipated categories, but this year, things look a little different. The 2020 documentary and nonfiction series nominees are anchored by a trio of buzzy shows that center around three polarizing figures and have sparked more controversy and conversation during the
Amid the stalled talks between Amazon and WarnerMedia over getting HBO Max on Fire TV devices, the two sides reached an agreement on one front, at least: Fire TV users who subscribe to HBO Now will continue to be able to access the service, which is being rebranded simply as HBO, as of Aug. 1.
The Hong Kong International Film Festival has taken the unusual decision of revealing the pictures it selected for its now canceled 44th edition. It also plans to award prizes in its competition sections, though there will be neither in-person or online screenings for the public. The festival had previously rescheduled its 44th edition from its
Comcast felt the impact of the coronavirus shutdown in the second quarter as the media giant posted double-digit declines in revenue and profits. The parent company of NBCUniversal stated that its fledgling Peacock streaming service has generated 10 million “sign-ups” since it debuted in April for Comcast Xfinity customers and on July 15 nationally. All
Distributed by Sony Pictures Releasing International, Santiago Segura’s family comedy “Father There is Only One 2” punched a sensational first-day debut on July 29, garnering €465,014 ($548,716) in Spain. That’s 60% up from the original installment’s first day total of €272,686 ($320,449), which went on to earn €14.2 million ($16.1 million) in Spain, becoming the
In a surprising move, longtime Sirius XM on-air personality Cousin Brucie Morrow will depart the ’60s on 6 channel after his show this Saturday night, August 2. The 84-year-old Morrow, whose real name is Bruce Meyerowitz, has been a fixture on the channel hosting nights weekly from Wednesday through Saturday since 2005. He joined Sirius
Rome’s MIA market for TV series, feature films and documentaries is ramping up operations for its upcoming mixed physical and digital edition in October, which looks set to attract a robust roster of international execs and high-profile projects. Rome’s new concept mart in May announced the launch of its MIA digital platform alongside its planned
In a sign of the times, Spain’s San Sebastian Festival, the biggest movie event in the Spanish-speaking world, announced Thursday two of its biggest Spanish premieres, both of which are TV series: Rodrigo Sorogoyen’s “Riot Police,” a Movistar Plus original, and Aitor Gabilondo’s “Patria,” a banner title at HBO Europe. They will be joined in
European cinema giant Vue has pushed back its U.K. reopening date from July 31 to Aug. 7 as it awaits fresh tentpole releases such as Christopher Nolan’s “Tenet,” which is expected to release Aug. 26 in the U.K. Cinemas will reopen in a phased manner, with 10 sites, including London, Edinburgh and Oxford among the first,
Exclusive Tekashi 6ix9ine sees the light at the end of the tunnel, but before he can be truly free, he’s gotta give back to the community … and he wants to make sure he survives it. T69’s attorney, Lance Lazzaro, tells us his client will be released from home confinement by Saturday — which will
ViacomCBS is playing the tonnage game with CBS All Access, paving the way for the launch of a renamed and bulked-up version of the direct-to-consumer streaming service in early 2021. CBS All Access is adding 70 shows — representing more than 3,500 episodes in all — from legacy Viacom cable networks including BET, Comedy Central,
Cousin Greg is the latest “Succession” family member to drop a catchy song since Kendall Roy’s “L to the OG.” Nicholas Braun, who stars as the lanky, innocent Greg Hirsch on HBO’s “Succession,” released “Antibodies,” a pop-punk song inspired by the coronavirus pandemic on Wednesday. The music video was crowd-sourced as Braun put out a
“Tenet” announced Wednesday that it has passed government approvals for a theatrical release in China, an indication that an official release date is now on the horizon. The film has released a poster in Chinese, swapping the English tagline “time runs out” for a clarion call to return to cinemas that roughly translates to “make
After “Hamilton” came to Disney Plus, viewers immediately took to Twitter to share their new observations and theories, and one of the most popular was the meaning behind Eliza Hamilton’s gasp in the final scene. Some people thought her gasp was her final breath before dying, and others theorized it was her breaking the fourth
Marc Kinchen, a DJ and producer who goes by MK, filed a lawsuit against his management company on Wednesday, accusing the firm of duping him into signing an “unconscionable” agreement. The performer alleges that manager Mark Davenport tricked him into signing the deal during a surprise meeting at an airport after he had been up