Kamala Harris announced on Tuesday that she is dropping out of the presidential race, citing her campaign’s struggles to raise money in the closing months before the Iowa caucus. Harris informed her staff on a conference call that she was suspending her campaign. “My campaign for president simply doesn’t have the financial resources we need
Filmmakers Kirby Dick and Amy Ziering are directing and producing a documentary about sexual assault in the music industry. The movie, from Oprah Winfrey and Impact Partners, is set to premiere next year on Apple Plus. It follows a former music executive who grapples with whether to go public with her story of assault and
Bob Iger, Geraldine Laybourne, Seth MacFarlane, Jay Sandrich and Cicely Tyson have been selected as the next five inductees to the Television Academy’s Hall of Fame. The 25th Hall of Fame class will be honored at a ceremony on Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2020, at the TV Academy’s Saban Media Center. The Hall of Fame selection
December 3, 2019 9:10AM PT Hot on the heels of the announcement of the first-ever Apple Music Awards, Shazam (which is owned by Apple) has announced its 2019 year-end statistics, including most-Shazamed songs, artist and more. Billie Eilish topped two of the charts (most-Shazamed songs and most-Shazamed pop song) and J Balvin was the most-Shazamed
December 3, 2019 8:57AM PT A second “Downton Abbey” movie looks likely – but it’s unlikely to happen anytime soon, despite efforts to get writer Julian Fellowes to pull some night shifts, producer Gareth Neame says. Fellowes and Neame were quizzed about a sequel to “Downton Abbey: The Movie,” which enjoyed a successful release earlier
AT&T’s multibillion-dollar bet on HBO Max, set to debut next spring, will anchor the telco’s video-entertainment strategy in 2020 and beyond, according to chief financial officer John Stephens. HBO Max is “the key aspect of the video strategy going forward,” said Stephens, speaking at the Wells Fargo TMT Summit in Las Vegas Tuesday. “This is a
December 3, 2019 8:30AM PT Fans are registering huge interest in “The Mandalorian” around the world, despite the fact that only those in a handful of markets can watch the Disney Plus series. Parrot Analytics measures demand for TV shows across social media, blogs, and elsewhere to produce a demand rating, and said the “Star
Republic Records has promoted Marisa Bianco to senior vice president of media, the company’s EVP of Media & Artist Relations Joseph Carozza announced today. Since joining Republic Records in 2014, Bianco has spearheaded a media campaign for Jonas Brothers’ No. 1 comeback album, “Happiness Begins” and played a key role in Julia Michaels’ transition from behind-the-scenes songwriter to a solo artist and Grammy Award
Discovery’s Motor Trend streaming service is reviving “Top Gear America” with a new trio of hosts: Dax Shepard, Rob Corddry and British journalist Jethro Bovingdon. Set to debut in the spring, the series marks the latest effort to put a U.S. spin on the enduring U.K. franchise that celebrates the automotive world by putting the
Latido Films has picked up international sales rights to musical comedy “Explota Explota” (“My Heart Goes Boom!”), a Spanish-Italian co-production, based on the hit songs by Italian singer Raffaella Carrà. Produced by Mariela Besuievsky at Madrid-based Tornasol Films and Carlotta Calori at Rome’s Indigo Film, the movie marks the feature debut by Uruguayan-Spanish director Nacho
As reported last week by Variety, veteran A&R executive Jeff Vaughn has been named president of Capitol Records, it was officially announced today by Capitol Music Group Chairman & CEO Steve Barnett, to whom Vaughn will report. Vaughn will assume his new position on January 1, 2020 and will be based in Hollywood at CMG’s
It’s 2019, and Alanis Morissette has traded her flicked cigarettes for peace signs. Straddling a chair in the middle of the Apollo Theater on Monday night, the singer radiates tranquility, apparently unbothered by what she looks like when she hits the high notes. And, yes, 25 years since the release of her seminal and generation-defining
It’s a family affair in the inaugural trailer for “Black Widow,” Marvel’s first solo film starring Scarlett Johansson’s superhero. Marvel debuted a first look Tuesday at its 24th comic-book adventure, which finds Russian spy-turned-hero Natasha Romanoff reuniting with her sister-figure (Florence Pugh), an older Black Widow (Rachel Weisz) and the Red Guardian (David Harbour). “I
December 3, 2019 6:47AM PT Imperative Entertainment is teaming with Texas Monthly on “Boomtown,” a new 10-part weekly podcast series that looks at the biggest oil boom in history. The series unfolds in West Texas and focuses on roughnecks and billionaire wildcatters whose interest in black gold is impacting the climate, the economy, and geopolitics.
From December 2 to 9, luxury women’s fashion designer Gabriela Hearst will donate all net proceeds from her flagship and online stores to Save the Children, a nonprofit organization that supports relief efforts in Yemen. To support this initiative, the designer will also make her eclectic handbag collection (which is usually accessible by request only)
“Wonder Woman” star Gal Gadot is set to executive produce a U.S. version of the hit Israeli crime drama “Queens.” Gadot and Jaron Varsano will executive produce under their Pilot Wave production banner, with Endemol Shine North America and Endemol Shine Israel producing. Endemol Shine Israel is currently producing the second season of “Queens,” which
Beyond Distribution, the distribution arm of Australian production, distribution and digital company Beyond International, announced several sales Tuesday, ahead of the Asia TV Forum & Market in Singapore. HK Television Entertainment Company has acquired a 40-hour package deal for Emmy-nominated series, “MythBusters” that includes “MythBusters Junior” and “MythBusters: The Search.” A&E Asia has acquired the
In the wee hours of Tuesday Apple announced the inaugural Apple Music Awards, “a celebration of the best and boldest musicians of 2019 and the enormous impact they have had on global culture this year.” The winners are Artist of the Year Billie Eilish, Breakthrough Artist of the Year Lizzo, and the Song of the
December 3, 2019 6:00AM PT The Palm Springs International Film Festival is honoring Antonio Banderas with its International Star Award for his work in “Pain and Glory.” The festival will present Banderas with the award on Jan. 2 at the Palm Springs Convention Center. The festival runs Jan. 2-13. Banderas stars in “Pain and Glory”
Already vying for six European Film Awards, Roman Polanski’s ‘An Officer and a Spy” (“J’accuse”) is nominated for five Lumieres Awards, the French prizes given by Paris-based members of the foreign press. The period film, which won the Silver Prize at the Venice Film Festival, is nominated for best film, director, actor (for Oscar-winning Jean
December 3, 2019 4:55AM PT Jermaine Hall, who has held executive editorial posts at Vibe, XXL, BET and King, today announced a new culture and lifestyle publication called LEVEL, aimed at “Black and Brown men 30 and up.” “The goal is to make Level a home for the mature Black and Brown man, a place
Riot Games, developer of “League of Legends,” will fork over at least $10 million to settle a class-action lawsuit filed on behalf of women employees alleging the company’s “bro culture” resulted in systemic gender discrimination. Terms of the settlement in the case, reached in August, were revealed in court documents filed last week in California
Mexican filmmakers Jack and Yossy Zagha Kababie (“Almacenados”) are back at Ventana Sur’s Blood Window with “The Containment,” an English-language possession thriller set in the bayous of Louisiana, which participated as a project at Blood Window and Bifan in 2018. “The Containment” is co-written by Yossy and breakout Basque scribe David Desola, whose last feature
December 3, 2019 3:58AM PT Eurofilmlaunches, a new platform that will give distributors movie release details by territory, has gone live. Digital agency Gruvi has launched the site, which is free and allows distributors – and consumers – to search for information on new releases and track them by territory. There is also a calendar
GMM Grammy Thailand will adapt and produce Nickelodeon’s social influencer format “The Viral Factory,” it was announced on Tuesday, ahead of Singapore’s Asian TV Forum & Market. The Dutch format originally aired in The Netherlands in 2018 under the title “De Viral Fabriek.” The Thai adaptation will feature local talent and will premiere in 2020.
BUENOS AIRES — “El día de mi suerte” begins with Hector Lavoe – or it looks like him – dressed in white suit, putting on a ring, and dark glasses, as he prepares to dance. Cut to Lavoe’s white shoes, cracked and grimed as the camera pulls back to an establishing shot of the figure
BUENOS AIRES — Ever incorporating ever bigger titles to its slate, Latido Films has boarded the Viacom-backed, Telefe co-produced “El Robo del Siglo” (“The Theft of the Century”), acquiring international rights outside the U.S. to a title which is shaping up as one of Argentina’s biggest bows of early 2020. Multiple factors elevate it to
Álvaro Ceppi of Chile’s award-winning animation studio Zumbastico has boarded “Coda,” a stop-motion animation feature project headed by Juan Pablo Zaramella at his own label, Buenos Aires-based JPZstudio, alongside Sol Rulloni. Variety has received exclusive access to “Coda’s” concept art and main character designs. A major name in Latin American stop-motion, Zaramella was Oscar shortlisted for his
BUENOS AIRES — Already Latin America’s second most sought-after shoot location, the City of São Paulo’s film-TV agency Spcine is introducing cash rebates for international productions from 2020. The move, a first for Brazil, is set to be announced Tuesday by Laís Bodanzky, president of Spcine, at Ventana Sur, Latin America’s biggest film-TV market, which
Netflix and YouTube are still the leaders of the streaming pack — but they’re finally facing some significant rivals that will start carving into the digital-video pie. The two video giants are expected to continue to be the most-watched video platforms next year, with Netflix remaining No. 1 in the U.S. in terms of time