On March 12, after months of intensive work, Tanya Saracho delivered the final cut of “Vida” to Starz. On March 13, she began self-quarantining. “After all that activity, I didn’t know what to do with the silence!” she laughs now, several weeks later. What made that first stretch of social distancing even stranger for Saracho,
Jeff Wilbusch has signed with Echo Lake Entertainment for mangement, Variety has learned exclusively. Wilbusch most recently appeared in the Netflix limited series “Unorthodox,” inspired by the Deborah Feldman memoir of the same name. It tells the story of a young Jewish woman named Esty who runs away from her arranged marriage and ultra-Orthodox community in
Carrie Mathison is pressed into service for one last quixotic mission to prevent geopolitical chaos from breaking out in Sunday’s series finale of the Showtime espionage drama “Homeland.” The tortured tale of the brilliant, bipolar CIA agent played by Claire Danes draws to a close after eight seasons — 96 episodes — with an episode
Facebook is preparing to broadly launch a free videoconferencing product called Messenger Rooms — which will allow people to connect whether they use one of the social giant’s apps or not, CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced Friday. The new videoconferencing feature is similar to Zoom and group video-chat app Houseparty, both of which have seen usage
The COVID-19 pandemic could be a major inflection point that changes consumer behaviors for years. Over the past month and a half, streaming to the TV viewing has more than doubled in the U.S. — and with the current stay-at-home lifestyle, more Americans say they expect to keep watching more TV and streaming services after
The song that Travis Scott promised to drop during “Astronomical,” his concert on Fortnite Thursday night, turns out to be a collaboration with Kid Cudi — and both the song and the “group” are called “The Scotts.” Slow, menacing and low-key, the song was produced by Daytrip, Dot Da Genius and Plain Pat, with co-production by
Comcast CEO Brian Roberts saw his 2019 compensation rise 3.8% to nearly $36.4 million, the Philadelphia cable giant disclosed in a filing Friday with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Many of the company’s top executives received relatively straightforward pay raises, though the totals they earn dwarf the average worker’s annual take-home pay. Former NBCUniversal
The NFL Draft kicked off in strong fashion in the TV ratings, as “Will & Grace” aired its finale ever episode (barring another revival, of course) to decent numbers. Round 1 of the draft, which saw LSU quarterback Joe Burrow selected as the number one overall pick by the Cincinnati Bengals, scored a 1.6 rating
Starting today at noon ET and stretching through the entire weekend, classic past performances by Bruno Mars, Coldplay, Green Day, Cardi B, Ed Sheeran, Janelle Monáe, Twenty One Pilots, Lil Uzi Vert, David Guetta, and many more will be part of the massive three-day PlayOn virtual festival, supporting the COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund for the World Health Organization (WHO),
Sports betting giant DraftKings has become a public company following approval of a merger with SBTech and Diamond Eagle Acquisition, the public acquisition vehicle headed by entertainment industry veterans Harry Sloan and Jeff Sagansky. The stock opened Friday at $17.53 on the Nasdaq under the ticker symbol DKNG and rose above $18 in early trading.
Juice WRLD’s family has released “Righteous,” the first posthumous single from the rapper, who died of an accidental drug overdose last year. According to a statement from the family, the song was recorded at the rapper’s home studio in Los Angeles. “Juice was a prolific artist who dedicated his life to making music. Choosing how
Like most of us these days, “Black Panther” and “Sherlock” star Martin Freeman’s life is on hold and he is stuck at home. Planned film and TV projects for the in-demand actor are either postponed or up in the air. “I’m not doing that much apart from reading and trying to keep fit to make
In this week’s International TV Newswire: spring festivals and markets feel Le Crunch, Warner Bros. steps up Spanish scripted, Nordisk Film and Fantefilm join forces, “All Star Driving School” steers into Mexico. June Builds as a Virtual Market Smackdown Le Crunch used to refer to the France-England rugby match. Now, it pretty much sums up Europe’s virtual
Rapper Travis Scott has grabbed the “Fortnite” crown for drawing the biggest live audience in the hit game’s history on Thursday night. Over 12.3 million concurrent “Fortnite” players participated live in Scott’s “Astronomical” virtual performance, an all-time record, according Epic Games. The prodigious turnout, no doubt, was helped by stay-at-home quarantine conditions in many parts
In early March, one day before cameras were set to roll in Milan on upcoming Netflix Italian original “Zero,” about the lives of black Italian youths, producer Nicola De Angelis and the streaming giant decided to halt production on the show due to the coronavirus outbreak. Italy was not yet on lockdown, but De Angelis
It’s not hard to see what country fans are enjoying about Hot Country Knights, the group that subsists on 1990s tropes and nothing but 1990s country tropes. The band — whose debut album, “The K Is Silent,” arrives May 1 — would seem to be the brainchild of post-’90s country star Dierks Bentley, who will
Universal Music Group’s merchandise division Bravado is releasing a line of artist-branded face masks. Under the banner “We’ve Got You Covered,” the reusable, washable, cloth face masks are available via a special e-commerce site, www.wegotyoucoverednow.com, for the very affordable price of $15. Billie Eilish, Justin Bieber, The Weeknd, Willie Nelson and Bob Marley are among
Switzerland’s Close Up Films, producer of the Participant Media-backed Toronto-premiered “Sing Me a Song” and co-producer of high-profile Cannes title “The Swallows of Kabul,” is developing a new production, “The Gift” (“Faiseuse de Secret”). Set to be presented on Saturday April 25 as part of an RTS Prize: Documentary Perspectives showcase at Visions du Réel
When “Wake Up on Mars” director Dea Gjinovci read a 2017 New Yorker article about a pair of teenage refugees suffering from a mysterious coma-like condition, the young director knew she had to make contact. Though the article had already prompted a significant share of media interest from more established institutions, Gjinovci intuited different shades
MADRID – While Spain’s audiovisual industry anxiously awaits federal relief measures to be approved this coming Tuesday, April 28, the Comunidad de Madrid – the Madrid Region – has announced a €1 million ($1.08 million) investment to generate €40million ($43.14 million) of financial aid for the film, TV and performing arts sectors. Each will receive
NBC Sports has turned to digital and social venues to rouse sports fans who can’t get their fix. The NBCUniversal-owned unit has been trying to galvanize fans with the hashtag #onehometeam, under which it distributes everything from a scavenger hunt to an invitation for fitness videos to people who might follow events associated with NBC
Verizon posted first-quarter 2020 revenue of $31.6 billion, down 1.6%, citing the impact of the coronavirus pandemic for missing Wall Street expectations. The top-line decline primarily resulted from “sharp reductions” in wireless equipment revenue, after social distancing measures were adopted in March — prompting Verizon to close 70% of its retail stores. Verizon estimated COVID-19
Thousands of members of Israel’s entertainment industry convened in Tel Aviv Thursday night for a socially distanced protest calling on the government to provide desperately needed aid. The event began with a laser light show depicting “150” in huge numbers inside a ticking clock, a reference to the 150,000 entertainment industry workers in the country.
Apple CEO Tim Cook made a surprise appearance on BBC’s “Big Night In” fundraiser on Thursday to reveal the company is waiving fees on charity single “Times Like These.” Speaking remotely from his home, Cook said the tech giant is dismissing all royalties on the single, which is a cover of the Foo Fighters song
MADRID — Renamed Conecta Fiction Reboot, the on-site fourth edition of the Latin America-Europe TV co-production forum, a vibrant and fast-growing event on the market calendar, will take place in Spain’s Pamplona over Sept. 2-3, unspooling as a hybrid on-site and virtual event. Moved from its traditional mid-June slot – this year’s event was originally
Even Prince William can’t escape the sensation of Netflix docuseries “Tiger King.” The British royal appeared in a two-minute sketch on BBC’s “Big Night In” fundraising special Thursday evening, where he was in a Zoom call with actor Stephen Fry, playing his iconic “Blackadder” character, Lord Melchett. Prince William at one point asked, “Have you
“Robert the Bruce” sounds like it could be the title of a Mel Brooks parody of a rousingly high-minded chain-mail-and-Lochaber-axe medieval hero epic. (It’s a sword clank away from something like “Bruce the Lionhearted.”) I don’t mean to come off as ignorant or disrespectful, since Robert the Bruce was, of course, the 14th-century Scottish king
SAG-AFTRA has told 160,000 members that its staff is working with employers to determine the specifics of how television actors are going to be paid — if at all — during the production shutdown caused by the cononavirus pandemic. The union posted a message late Thursday on its website as a “COVID-19 Update” — admitting
Afrobeats superstar Davido is putting some muscle into the fight against Covid-19, enlisting R&B standout Summer Walker and producer London On Da Track for a visual to the track “Dolce & Gabbana.” Co-produced with Nigerian producer Kiddominant, it comes from Davido’s sophomore album “A Good Time.” In it, all three are decked in head-to-toe D&G.
The Production Music Conference set for fall has been canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic, the Production Music Association announced Thursday. The annual confab for the global production music community was set to take place Oct. 5 but will now wait it out till fall 2021. The show will go on for the conferences’s Mark