“The Highwaymen,” about a group of African American artists in segregated 1960s Florida, is being readied to go into production, with casting underway. Curated By Media is packaging the project, with Concourse Media on board as sales agent. Todd Thompson directs from a script by Lucien Christian Adderley and Richard ‘Byrd’ Wilson. Thompson previously directed
Accusing Twitter of anti-conservative bias, supporters of Donald Trump — and a senior White House aide — have waged a campaign singling out one company employee who has posted tweets critical of Trump and other Republications in the past. The online attacks against Yoel Roth, Twitter’s head of site integrity, came after the social network
Joel Grey approached Larry Kramer after seeing a preview performance of “The Normal Heart” at New York’s Public Theater in 1985. “I was devastated and said to him, ‘I don’t know what’s going to happen, but if anything changes in the future or if there’s another production, please call me,’” Grey recalled in an interview
Jonathan Steingard, the frontman of the Christian rock band Hawk Nelson, has admitted he no longer believes in God. In a lengthy post that was shared on his Instagram account last week, the singer revealed that after a lifetime as a Christian, he no longer believes in God and would be leaving the band. “After
The Verzuz DJ battles — the real-time, virtual DJ matches on Instagram Live that pit icons of R&B and hip-hop against each other in (usually) friendly musical competition — have become an online phenomenon during the pandemic, as hundreds of thousands of people watch and comment on social media. But along with the good grooves
WarnerMedia’s HBO Max is now live, packing in twice the content of legacy HBO for the same $14.99 monthly price. But for now, it’s unavailable on Roku and Amazon’s streaming platforms, which represent more than 80 million TV households. Currently, you can’t access HBO Max on Roku or Amazon Fire TV devices, and if you’ve
In lending her voice to this week’s cover story on Gabrielle Union, #MeToo Movement founder Tarana Burke expands on the importance of speaking up at work in Hollywood and beyond. Gabrielle Union is unique. She is what older black folks would call a “born truth-teller.” She’s a person that is going to be physically uncomfortable
When costumer Anna Terrazas was tasked with creating the look for National Geographic’s new series “Barkskins,” she set out to put her own stamp on the period drama. The eight-episode series, based on the novel by Annie Proulx and shot in the woods of Quebec, examines 1690s New France and the mysterious massacre of settlers
Lady Gaga and Ariana Grande made a surprise appearance on The Weather Channel’s “AMHQ” forecast this morning (May 27) to report that it is, indeed, raining. The pop singers, who released their collaborative single “Rain on Me” on Friday (May 22), joined meteorologists Jim Cantore, Stephanie Abrams and Jen Carfagno to promote their new single
Maude Apatow is the first to admit she didn’t excel at improv in high school. “We were all standing onstage, and when it would be my turn I would do two exchanges and then I’d say, ‘Oh, I’m getting a call in the other room,’” she reveals with a laugh. “I would always find an
U.S.-China tensions have escalated into the realm of movie politics, despite the ongoing global pandemic that has already sent Hollywood reeling. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, has doubled down on threats to make American studios decide between federal funding and the Chinese box office through what he calls the Stopping Censorship, Restoring Integrity and Protecting Talkies
Sony/ATV Music Publishing has promoted Peter Brodsky to General Counsel and Executive Vice President, Business Affairs, the company announced Wednesday (May 27). Brodsky is based in the company’s New York office and reports directly to Sony/ATV Chairman and CEO, Jon Platt. According to the announcement, as General Counsel and EVP, Business Affairs, Brodsky leads the company’s legal and business affairs
ViacomCBS has engaged in another round of layoffs, this time at CBS, as Viacom and CBS continue their post-merger integration as a combined company. The staff reduction includes those at CBS Entertainment, CBS News, CBS Sports, CBS Studios and CBS Television Studios. “We are restructuring various operations at CBS as part our ongoing integration with
HBO Max makes its much-anticipated debut on Wednesday as a $4 billion bet by AT&T and WarnerMedia to vault into the global streaming TV marketplace. For WarnerMedia insiders, launch day is “really is just the beginning,” Bob Greenblatt, chairman of WarnerMedia Entertainment and Direct to Consumer, tells Variety podcast “Strictly Business.” WarnerMedia plans to integrate
It seems like every other week brings a new streaming service with it, but the May 27 launch of HBO Max is, indeed, a potential watershed moment. While presented as a branch of the existing HBO brand, it’s more accurately a WarnerMedia behemoth effort that unites the conglomerates many properties (plus a few original efforts)
Dr. Fauci has gone Hollywood! The infectious disease expert — a prominent member of the White House’s coronavirus task force — may have fallen out of favor with our pandemic-clueless president, but he’s a huge hit with the entertainment community. Julia Roberts went gaga over the esteemed doctor with the raspy voice last week in
Steve Carell is bringing back his character Gru from “Despicable Me” to shed light on proper health and safety etiquette during the coronavirus crisis in a new PSA for the World Health Organization. In the clip, Carell highlights the “lifesaving behaviors” necessary to curb the pandemic, including social distancing, staying active at home and being
Solstice Studios is developing the futuristic thriller “Mind Fall” with Cedric Jimenez directing and Oscar winner Graham Moore scripting. It’s the second project for two-year-old Solstice under its partnership with Studio 8, which includes Robert Rodriguez’s upcoming action thriller “Hypnotic,” starring Ben Affleck. “Mind Fall” will be produced by Studio 8’s Jeff Robinov, Guy Danella and
Zack Snyder has teased a new villain for his recut version of “Justice League.” On Wednesday, the director posted a picture of DC Comics villain Darkseid on his Twitter with the caption “He’s coming… to HBO Max.” Ray Porter was originally attached to play the supervillain in segments of “Justice League” that went unused in
Two weeks after the Hollywood Bowl officially pulled the plug on its 2020 season, Los Angeles’ other major outdoor venue, the Greek Theatre, has followed suit, announcing that all the shows scheduled to go down in the Griffith Park amphitheater through October are either called off or pushed into next year. A list of shows
MKM Partners analyst Eric Handler has upgraded stock of AMC Entertainment Holdings from sell to neutral, citing reduced risk of bankruptcy. “Near-term bankruptcy risk appears to have subsided,” the analyst wrote in a note to clients on Wednesday. He said the lower risk is due to “the combination of (1) the increasing likelihood movie theaters
Pedro Pascal and his masked bounty hunter on “The Mandalorian” have made an impact on the Golden Globes’ rules. In a timely move during this era of mask wearing, a new Globe rule clarifies that Pascal, whose face wasn’t visible for most of the show, was indeed eligible last year to compete as an actor
Fallout from COVID-19 has hit publicity powerhouse Rogers & Cowan/PMK. About 10% of the staff “across all divisions and departments” has been laid off, company chairman Cindi Berger told Variety on Wednesday morning. “It was a fiscally responsible decision to make that prepares us for the future,” she said. The cuts were made throughout Rogers
Better late than never: WarnerMedia clinched a deal with Comcast for HBO Max, with the final pact officially hammered into place just hours after the super-size streaming service launched earlier Wednesday. Comcast, one of the last big holdouts in picking up HBO Max, will help expand the fledgling streamer’s reach. The U.S.’s largest cable operator,
The coronavirus pandemic has caused the world to flip upside down, with businesses continuing to shift operations as companies adapt to the new normal. As stay-at-home restrictions ease up and industries begin to open their doors, Time’s Up has released guidelines for equitable and inclusive practices in the workplace to help leaders respond to the
When COVID-19 forced television studios to close their doors, long-running late-night shows such as “Conan” were faced with a dilemma. Was it possible to keep being funny and lifting audiences’s spirits from home? So, Conan O’Brien and his team set out to recreate their particular brand of comedy via Zoom. “We had no choice,” Jeff
Larry Kramer, the writer and influential gay activist who pressed the U.S. government and the medical establishment to respond to the AIDS epidemic, has died. He was 84. Kramer died Wednesday from pneumonia, his husband David Webster told the New York Times. Earlier in his life, Kramer was a screenwriter with credits including “Women in
It’s no surprise that National Geographic’s new drama “Barksins” looks like it was really shot in the 17th century wilderness — even if there were no cameras in the 1600s. Production designer Isabelle Guay built the set from “scratch,” the show’s star Marcia Gay Harden shared during the “Variety After-Show.” On “Barksins,” Harden portrays Mathilde,
“Growing up in public” has been the story of Billie Eilish’s life in the four-plus years since she rose from SoundCloud star to global phenomenon — but she’s using her platform to make a powerful statement about body shaming and assumptions people make about her and other young women with a new spoken-word video called
The music and technology industries have joined forces to launch SongAid, an ongoing effort to fight the global hunger crisis exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. Starting on May 29, each week SongAid will release new music from a growing list of contributing artists. Each time a fan listens to a SongAid song, the streaming proceeds will go to WhyHunger’s