Speaking at an industry round-table at the Paris-based Production Forum on Thursday, Dominique Boutonnat, president of France’s National Film Board (CNC), announced a new plan to update local production studios in order to make them more internationally competitive. The modest plan, which involves new funding, training sessions and additional research, follows a March 2019 report,
Writer-director Mark Jenkin, whose feature debut “Bait” was nominated for two BAFTAs last week, has set his next project, “Enys Men” (“Stone Island”), with Film4. Jenkin will direct from his own script. Denzil Monk is producing for Bosena. Johnny Fewings is executive producing, with Kate Byers and Linn Waite as associate producers. Film4 will co-finance the
Comcast confirmed plans to launch a global news platform with Sky News at the launch of its highly anticipated streaming offering Peacock. Variety understands that the channel will be a brand new service that exists independent of Sky News and NBC News, with bases likely to be set up in London and New York and a
MADRID — Spanish film-TV director Salvador Calvo, who made his mark with his debut feature, 2016’s “1898, Our Last Men in the Philippines,” plus a string of admired TV series, is joining Madrid-based Boomerang TV, a bastion of Spanish scripted fiction over the last two decades. Calvo – whose latest movie, Telvcinco Cinema’s immigration drama
CineAsia, the long-running convention for the film exhibition and distribution sectors, has ditched Hong Kong, its home for the past decade. It was forced to cancel the 2019 edition in December, due to the political unrest in the city. New York-based organizer, the Film Expo Group, announced on Friday by email that the 2020 edition
MADRID — Adding a new dimension to strong women action series, London-based global drama producer-distributor Fremantle is teaming with Fabula, headed by director Pablo Larrain (“Jackie”) and producer Juan de Dios Larraín (“Gloria Bell”), to produce “Talitha Kum.” Directed by Marialy Rivas (“Young & Wild,” “Princesita”), the high octane Mexico-set action series promises to deliver
As the music industry reeled in the wake of Deborah Dugan’s sudden removal from her post as president/CEO of the Recording Academy on Thursday — a mere five months after she’d taken charge, and just ten days before the Grammy Awards — even insiders were stunned by the abruptness of the move and perplexed by
January 16, 2020 11:50PM PT An old camcorder tape harbors a jumble of ersatz ’80s home movies and broadcast clips in this lukewarm comedy-skit assembly. Its slim premise involving a couple of 13-year-old boys having fun with a camcorder in the late ’80s, “VHYes” is maybe a little too faithful to their sensibility — being
January 16, 2020 11:30PM PT Square-peg lawyer Justin Long plunges down a rabbit’s hole of druggy disorientation in a surreal black comedy-lite. A sort of “After Hours” update with a lot more drugs and time ellipses, “The Wave” throws Justin Long down a rabbit’s hole of sometimes hallucinatory, sometimes mortal peril when his button-down protagonist
Eminem may not be the Master of Suspense: He just dropped his new album, “Music to Be Murdered By,” Thursday at midnight, without even milking it with any prior warning. But he appears to be a fan of Alfred Hitchcock anyway. The new set shares its title and cover concept with the one and only
In the big unveiling Thursday on the “Saturday Night Live” stage at 30 Rock, NBCUniversal leaders described Peacock as a 21st century iteration of a broadcast network. For sure, the Comcast answer to the streaming wars is taking a broadcasters’ approach to programming and distributing the service that Comcast hopes might eventually represent the next
If you were cynical, you might think releasing a posthumous, pieced-together Mac Miller album 16 months after his passing from an accidental drug overdose would be just one more part of the current death march of releases from deceased young rappers with pleadingly emotive lyrics and sonically rock-ist edges. Like late Soundcloud emo-rappers such as
SPOILER ALERT: Do not read if you have not yet watched the sixth episode of “Project Runway” Season 18. Sergio Guadarrama is a self-proclaimed political designer and in this week’s heritage challenge, he had a message to share — literally. Guadarrama’s story behind his “Project Runway” design ultimately overshadowed the garment itself. His hot pink, cotton, Mexican-inspired
Recording Academy head Deborah Dugan has been placed on administrative leave, ten days ahead of the Grammy Awards. An internal memo provided to Variety states: “In light of concerns raised to the Recording Academy Board of Trustees, including a formal allegation of misconduct by a senior female member of the Recording Academy team, the Board
Facebook Watch has canceled two of its shows amid a scaling back of its scripted content. Both “Limetown” and “Sorry For Your Loss” have been cancled after their first and second seasons respectively, Variety has confirmed. Based on the podcast of the same name produced by Two Up, “Limetown” followed Lia Haddock (Jessica Biel), a journalist for
In today’s TV news roundup, AMC has announced a premiere date for “The Walking Dead: World Beyond” and Netflix released a trailer for “Chilling Adventures of Sabrina” Season 3. DATES TV One is celebrating Martin Luther King, Jr. Day with its annual two-hour broadcast of “Urban One Honors” on Jan. 20 at 8 p.m. This year’s honorees include Jamie
In today’s film news roundup, Jon Bernthal is cast in “King Richard,” FilmFreeway sets a Toronto Film Festival deal and “Phoenix, Oregon” gets distribution. CASTING Jon Bernthal is in talks to star as tennis coach Rick Macci in Warner Bros.’ “King Richard” opposite Will Smith. Reinaldo Marcus Green is directing the drama, written by Zach
One of the hallmarks of Josh Thomas’ particularly spiky and sympathetic sense of humor is how he takes a situation we’ve seen unfold on TV before and makes the bold choice to let his characters react like actual human beings. On his semi-autobiographical comedy “Please Like Me,” people struggled through depression and their gnarled feelings
“Better Call Saul” has been renewed for season a sixth and final season at AMC. The final season will be 13 episodes and will go into production later this year and air in 2021. News that the “Breaking Bad” spinoff is coming to an end was announced by showrunner Peter Gould and co-creator Vince Gilligan
January 16, 2020 5:13PM PT Christian Bale and David O. Russell are in talks to team on an untitled film that’s being developed at New Regency through its overall deal with Disney and Fox, Variety has confirmed. New Regency executives are aiming for a spring production start. If the project comes together, Russell would direct
Huayi Brothers, one of China’s leading film studios, has come on board sci-fi film project “Moonfall” as mainland Chinese distributor and as an executive producer. To be directed later this year by action adventure maestro Roland Emmerich, the project was one of the hottest properties when first offered to buyers last year during Cannes. But
Fictional court made its way into real court when one of Harvey Weinstein’s attorneys brought up “Law & Order” in his line of questioning during jury selection on Thursday. “I have a great question. I wrote it myself,” Weinstein’s lawyer Damon Cheronis said, approaching prospective jurors with a smirk on his face and a charming
To shake Ken Ehrlich’s hand is to know that you are no more than two degrees of separation from just about any living pop, rock, R&B, country, hip-hop or gospel musician of note — and more than a few who are no longer with us. They, or at least someone close to them, have all
“Gentleman Jack” and “Doctor Foster” star Suranne Jones is to take the lead in “Vigil,” a nuclear submarine thriller for the BBC from World Productions, the makers of “Line of Duty” and “Bodyguard.” “Vigil” is written and created by Tom Edge, who penned Judy Garland biopic “Judy,” with episodes by Ed Macdonald, whose credits include “The End of
UPDATED: Taika Waititi, director of “Thor: Ragnarok” and “Jojo Rabbit,” is in early talks to develop a new “Star Wars” movie, Variety has confirmed. There are no further details about how far those negotiations are with Waititi, nor what his involvement might ultimately be. But hot off of six Oscar nominations for “Jojo Rabbit,” Waititi is
Pascal Le SegretainGetty Images Posing for photos is an awkward undertaking, so how do celebs make it look easy? It turns out red carpet pros have an arsenal of poses for getting the perfect shot, but even the most effortless-looking photo-ops take some practice. Celebrity stylist Micaela Erlanger, who dresses red carpet darlings like Lupita
Unifrance’s MyFrenchFilmFestival (MFFF) is back this year, giving thousands of fans of French-speaking cinema from around the world an opportunity to see films reaching the end of their festival runs. This year’s competition received a late boost when Delphine Girard’s “A Sister,” one of the 10 shorts in competition, was nominated for the best live-action
Design By Morgan McMullen Looking for a way to cure those winter blues? Perhaps some retail therapy will help. Right now, Net-a-Porter is offering up to 80 percent off clothing, accessories, and beauty products. For years, Net-a-Porter has been one of our go-to destinations for beautiful, ridiculously chic pieces. Whether you’re looking for an investment
Delphine Girard’s 16-minute Belgian thriller “A Sister” gave this year’s MyFrenchFilmFestival (MFFF) shorts competition a shot in the arm earlier this week, when the film received an Academy Award nomination for Best Live Action Short Film. Shot from the backseat of an unnerving rural car ride and across the desks of an emergency call center,
Katie Couric, Stephen King and “The Report” director Scott Z. Burns are several of the creatives who are getting into business with AMC. The network has unveiled an extensive development slate which includes both AMC Studios series being eyed for the company’s Entertainment Group, as well as projects that are being developed with an eye