SAN SEBASTIAN — Ángeles Cruz, one of Mexico’s highest-profile indigenous cineasts, screened for the first time a nearly-finished version of her feature debut “Nudo Mixteco” at the San Sebastian Films in Progress sidebar. Having won two Mexican Academy Ariel Awards for her first two shorts, “Nudo Mixteco” arrived in Spain buzzing. It deftly intertwines
Actress and creator Issa Rae is getting into the streaming data and analytics business. Rae has taken a minority stake in Streamlytics, an L.A.-based startup led by tech entrepreneur Angela Benton, which is aiming to democratize access to streaming media data — with a specific focus on providing data that better reflects the usage of
SAN SEBASTIAN — Paul Hudson’s Outsider Pictures has picked-up U.S. distribution rights to César Díaz’s “Nuestras madres” (“Our Mothers”), Belgium’s submission for the international feature film Academy Award. Sold by Pyramide International, “Our Mothers” world premiered at Cannes’ Critics Week, winning the Golden Camera for best first film at the Cannes Festival. Outsider Pictures
SAN SEBASTIAN — The Noka Mentoring program, a local initiative to support up-and-coming Basque female filmmakers, kicked off on Monday morning at this year’s 67th San Sebastian Film Festival. The program was co-developed by the Basque Government’s Department of Culture and Language Policy and Zineuskadi, a non-profit org set up by the department and the two
‘+90dB’ A Basque rock band travels the globe playing to diehard fans from Japan, the U.S., Germany and France. Marina Lameiro’s second film, produced by Arena Comunicación and Txalap.art. ‘918 NIGHTS’ Arantza Santesteban writes and directs her first feature documentary in which she explores the experience of being incarcerated for what seemed to be 918
SAN SEBASTIAN — Basque cinema is attacking the future with higher industrial and creative expectations than ever, playing off two motors: Co-production with other parts of Spain, international equity partnerships. Two game-changers in the Basque film landscape, “Handia,” winner of 10 Spanish Academy Goya Awards in 2018, and “Loreak,” Spain’s 2016 Oscar submission, have contributed
September 23, 2019 10:58PM PT Film and TV editors across Los Angeles were sweating Monday evening as their workstations were refusing to reboot, resulting in speculations about a possible computer virus attack. Social media reports suggested that the issue was widespread among users of Mac Pro computers running older versions of Apple’s operating system as
Poland’s New Europe Film Sales is handling worldwide sales rights to Mariko Bobrik’s feature debut “The Taste of Pho.” The food drama’s trailer is launching exclusively in Variety ahead of its world premiere at the San Sebastian Film Festival’s Culinary Cinema sidebar. Described as a story about love, misunderstanding and food, “The Taste of Pho” follows Long,
SAN SEBASTIAN — Filmax is handling international rights to Asier Altuna and Telmo Esnal’s “Bye Bye Mr. Etxebeste!,” produced by the Basque Country’s Irusoin, one of the main companies behind Jon Garaño, Aitor Arregi and José Mari Goenaga’s “The Endless Trench,” a main competition contender at the 67th San Sebastian Film Festival. “Bye Bye Mr.
Fresh off their wedding earlier this month, Melissa Benoist and Chris Wood teamed up with Jane Lynch, Kate Flannery, Wayne Brady and more Saturday night to help raise money for low-income immigrants. The star-studded group, which also included Yuri Sardarov, Gina Torres, Grant Gustin, and Caroline Rhea, were all on hand Saturday night for a
Animation producer J. Michael Mendel, best known for his work on “The Simpsons” and “Rick and Morty,” has died. The four-time Emmy award-winner was 54. A spokesperson for Adult Swim, the network where “Rick and Morty” airs, confirmed the death in a statement, saying, “All of us at Adult Swim are devastated by the untimely
In today’s film news roundup, “Abominable” gets a Chinese-language version, “The Mandela Effect” gets a home, Buffalo 8 expands its post-production services and “Miracle on Grass” is becoming a movie. SPECIAL RELEASE Universal Pictures has partnered with audio tech company TheaterEars to offer a Mandarin-language version of “Abominable” for Chinese-speaking moviegoers. “Abominable,” produced by DreamWorks
The 2019 Emmys were a harsh, recurring reminder for broadcast networks that their awards lunch is being eaten by premium cablers and streaming services featuring buzzy prestige shows. But basic cablers, despite collectively logging a year-over-year decline in statuettes, managed to grab onto some key prizes with standout titles such as “Pose,” “Killing Eve” and
Will Ward’s management company Fourward has announced the formation of new music publishing company, Fourward Music, LLC. and has tapped industry leader Shannan Hatch to serve as president. The new company will have offices in Los Angeles and Nashville. “I am excited to expand and grow the Fourward brand in the publishing space,” Ward said.
CNN Allegedly a Target of Arrested Solider’s Terror Plans – Variety You will be redirected back to your article in seconds September 23, 2019 5:10PM PT CNN was allegedly discussed as a potential target by a U.S. Army solider who was arrested this weekend after making known his plans for terror attacks, according to court
The Emmys are not showing much love to the Big 4 broadcast networks these days — but don’t expect the awards show to move to a streaming service any time soon. Once again, this year’s awards were dominated by cable, premium cable, and streaming platforms. HBO took home the most Emmys with 34 total, while
September 23, 2019 4:22PM PT Kevin Kline and Sigourney Weaver are starring in the drama “The Good House” for Steven Spielberg’s Amblin Partners. The duo previously starred together in “Dave” and “The Ice Storm.” “The Good House,” based on the adaptation of Ann Leary’s New York Times bestseller of the same name, is beginning production
In today’s TV news roundup, “Stumptown” books three guest stars and BET announced new premiere dates for two new Tyler Perry projects. DATES BET Networks and Tyler Perry Studios have pushed back the premiere of their original dramas “The Oval” and “Sistas” to Oct. 23. “The Oval,” which has the 9 p.m. time slot, follows
Behind-the-scenes-industry-player-turned-movie-director Marc Meyers took multitasking to a new level this month, debuting two wildly different films at corresponding fall festivals. Meyers helmed “Human Capital,” a hit-and-run drama told from numerous perspectives that stars Liev Schreiber, Marisa Tomei and “Stranger Things” breakout star Maya Hawke, which debuted in the official selection in Toronto. A week later,
In a city where film festivals often struggle for stability and longevity, the City of Lights, City of Angeles (Colcoa) French Film Festival has long been a happy outlier, scheduling a week of French film premieres in Los Angeles every April, year after year. That makes it all the more disorienting to see the fest’s
Robert Pattinson’s Batman might have found his first co-star. Sources tell Variety that Jonah Hill is in talks to join Pattinson in Matt Reeves’ “The Batman.” Insiders also say Jeffrey Wright is in talks to play Commissioner Gordon. According to sources, producers had long wanted Hill for the project, but casting decisions were put on
Fox’s upcoming drama “9-1-1: Lone Star” has filled out the remainder of its series regular roles. Natacha Karam, Brian Michael Smith, Rafael Silva and Julian Works have all joined the series alongside previously announced cast members Rob Lowe, Liv Tyler, Jim Parrack, Sierra McClain and Ronen Rubinstein. Karam will play Marjan Marwani, described as an
Twice during Dave Matthews Band’s headlining performance at the Sea.Hear.Now Festival on Sunday night (Sept. 22), Matthews thanked the 37,000 in attendance for “sticking around.” If the audience was showing signs of festival fatigue at the end of the second annual two-day music and surfing festival in Asbury Park, New Jersey, it wasn’t evident at
September 23, 2019 2:44PM PT “How to Train Your Dragon” director Dean DeBlois has come on board to direct and write “Micronauts” for Paramount Pictures and Hasbro. DeBlois’ hiring is a major step forward for the project, which has been in the works at Paramount for a decade. The film will be based on the
September 23, 2019 2:36PM PT And for his next act, Chuck Lorre will be pivoting to total and complete earnestness. The powerhouse producer behind “Two and a Half Men” and the recently departed “Big Bang Theory” has now thrown his weight behind “Bob Hearts Abishola,” an unabashedly sweet comedy about a divorced socks salesman (Billy
WarnerMedia has named three senior executives to its original non-fiction team at streaming service HBO Max ahead of the platform’s 2020 debut, tapping Brett Boydstun, Lizzie Fox, and Rebecca Quinn to shape the division’s programming. “Non-fiction storytelling will be a crucial component to HBO Max and we now have the leadership and team in place
SAN SEBASTIAN — On Monday at the San Sebastian Film Festival the European Film Forum hosted a presentation and two panels highlighting new financing and collaboration models for promoting European works. Both panels were hosted by Rafael Lambea of Spanish non-profit Crea Sgr. In 2016 Crea Sgr was the first agency to make use of
SAN SEBASTIAN — On Jan. 14, 2015 prosecutor Alberto Nisman went on TV to accuse Argentine President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner of negotiating the impunity of Iranians accused of the Buenos Aires’ 1994 AMIA bombing, the biggest terrorist attack in the Western hemisphere before 9/11. “There was an alliance with terrorists, negotiation with a state
Sony Music Entertainment today announced the promotions of Mark Cavell and Per Hauber to lead the Company’s Classical, Jazz, Broadway and non-traditional contemporary music business. Based in New York, Cavell will become President of Sony Masterworks and Hauber will become President of Sony Classical, based in Berlin. They will report to Sony Music chairman Rob Stringer and
SAN SEBASTIAN — On Monday afternoon, leading figures from the Chinese and Spanish industries gathered to discuss future plans, sitting for a panel called “China/Spain: The Belt and Road Initiatives: The New Era for Co-Production.” Moderated by producer Ying Liu, the panel brought together executives Marta Ezpeleta (The Mediapro Studio), Lu Wei (Beijing East Purple