“Crazy Rich Asians” star Henry Golding has started Long House Productions in partnership with China’s Starlight Cultural Entertainment Group with two features in the works. Golding’s first feature under the Long House banner is action adventure “The Inheritance,” based on an original story idea by Alistair Hudson and Golding. Hudson is writing the script for
Screenwriter Max Landis is facing allegations of sexual abuse and psychological manipulation from eight women who told their stories to the Daily Beast. Two of the women spoke on the record, and another five were identified by pseudonyms. An eighth women confirmed that she filed a police complaint against Landis in 2008, in which she
Sir Lucian Grainge, chairman/CEO of Universal Music Group, has written a letter to staffers about the firestorm — if you’ll pardon the term — that has resulted from the New York Times’ investigative news story about the fire that destroyed much of the company’s archive of master recordings in 2008. While Grainge emphasizes that digital
June 18, 2019 12:20PM PT Chris Stapleton, Chance the Rapper and Camila Cabello are also aboard. With less than a month to go, Ed Sheeran has uncensored his list of duet partners on the “No.6 Collaborations Project” album that’s due out July 12 and, not surprisingly, Justin Bieber is far from the only superstar in
Life on its own online isn’t easy for Vice Media. Ending the digital publisher’s controversial practice of rolling up web traffic for partner sites into an aggregated number resulted in the total domestic traffic falling nearly by half between March 2019 and the following month, according to Comscore. The numbers improved slightly for May, when
PAMPLONA, Spain – Chilean production company Manufactura de Películas pitched its unconventional Pinochet-era drama “The Saddest Goal” today at Spain’s Conecta Fiction TV co-production and networking TV event, held in Pamplona. Set during qualification for the 1974 FIFA World Cup, a period of great political instability in Chile, “The Saddest Goal” kicks off as the
June 18, 2019 11:51AM PT Hip-hop stars Meek Mill and Future have announced what they’re billing as a fall tour — even though, technically, most of the dates fall in the final weeks of summer — that will bring them to 24 cities across the country, mostly in outdoor amphitheaters. The co-headlining outing starts August
Spain’s Seville-based shingle La Claqueta and Portugal’s SPi have clinched a co-development agreement for three fiction projects a year. Companies first made contact at last year’s Conecta Fiction, the annual co-production meet in Spain. The companies have also pacted to co-produce the animated feature-length docu “El viaje más largo” in collaboration with Portuguese pubcaster RTP
Global indie-label collective Merlin reported record distributions in its 2019 membership report, paying $845 million to label and distributor members between April 2018 and March of this year. That figure, a 63% year-over-year increase, includes more than $130 million paid out this year from non-royalty income — and included in that figure is the estimated
The FX series based on “Y: The Last Man” has found its new showrunner. Eliza Clark has been named showrunner, writer, and executive producer on the upcoming series — which is titled simply “Y” — based on the graphic novels by Brian K. Vaughan and Pia Guerra. She takes over from original showrunners Michael Green
Following up hit Chilean Netflix series “Bala Loca,” David Miranda Hardy, head of content development at Santiago-based Filmo Estudios, is developing a new crime thriller set against the backdrop of the ongoing dispute between the Mapuche indigenous people and the Chilean state. “En la Frontera” (“The Frontier”) – one of the 10 finalist projects taking
Lemming Film, one of the Netherlands’ leading international co-production outlets, has brought its newest project, “Greed,” to Conecta Fiction’s Pitch Copro Series. Spearheaded by up-and-coming director Eché Janga and leading screenwriter Oscar van Woensel, the six-episode horror-drama will follow a tight-knit group of Rotterdam restaurant workers who are offered all the money they could ever
Michael Fassbender will produce and star in the Lionsgate spy thriller “Malko,” based on Gerard de Villiers’ S.A.S. series, with the studio planning to launch a franchise with the project. Eric Warren Singer, who was nominated for an Academy Award for best original screenplay for “American Hustle,” will write the screenplay. Joe Drake, chairman of
Mediapro Chile, the Chilean arm of Spanish production powerhouse The Mediapro Studio, is launching its first TV drama project, crime thriller “El acantilado” (“The Cliff”), chosen as one of the 10 finalists at Conecta Fiction’s 3rd Pitch Copro Series. “The Cliff” features a high-profile creative team that takes in film director Martín Hodara (“Black Snow,”
June 18, 2019 10:43AM PT Twitch has tapped Sarah Iooss, most recently EVP of revenue at millennial-news startup Mic, to lead the advertising sales team in North America for the Amazon-owned live-streaming video platform focused on video gaming. Iooss will be based in New York, reporting to chief revenue officer Walker Jacobs, who joined Twitch
When Facebook officially announced its plans for a new cryptocurrency called Libra Tuesday, it also revealed that Spotify was part of a consortium of companies called the Libra Association that is backing the project. The music service hopes that digital money can help subscription services sign up new customers. “One challenge for Spotify and its
June 18, 2019 10:03AM PT [embedded content] The intimacy of the music room backstage at “The Tonight Show” was put to particularly good use when the sometimes folk-leaning band the Head and the Heart came through, as the group cooked up a low-simmer version of one of their earliest songs, “Rivers and Roads,” with Jimmy
The American Film Institute has named producer and educator Susan Ruskin as dean of the AFI Conservatory, where she will lead AFI’s graduate film-training program. Ruskin, who will also carry the title of executive VP, will report directly to Bob Gazzale, AFI President and CEO, the organization announced Tuesday. She replaces producer Richard Gladstein, who left
Unmoored from reason or shame and buoyed by its willingness to be as silly as it wants to be, the new ABC drama “Reef Break” is a wildly unserious piece of television. In that, it’s a bit refreshing — a network series that embraces its network-iness, that has absolutely no ambition beyond evoking a smile.
Imagine Entertainment is continuing to build out its kids and family division with the addition of a new Nickelodeon project. Variety has learned exclusively that Imagine Kids & Family is developing an untitled scripted space series with the children’s’ network. “Working with Brian, Ron and all the creative voices at Imagine to create this project
June 18, 2019 9:30AM PT “Queer Eye” has been renewed for two more seasons at Netflix. The Emmy-winning unscripted series has been picked up for a fourth and fifth season at the streaming giant, with Season 4 set to debut on July 19. Season 5 will begin production next week and will debut on Netflix
Chinese production and talent company Er Dong Pictures shed some light on its latest film investment slate and growing web of relationships in Asia and Hollywood. The company, which is in the process of establishing a joint venture with Hollywood talent firm The Gersh Agency, and has a 12-film co-funding deal with Starlight Culture Entertainment,
June 18, 2019 8:38AM PT ABC’s “Grand Hotel” premiered to not so grand figures for the network. Based on the original Spanish series and starring Demian Bichir, Eva Longoria and Roselyn Sanchez, “Grand Hotel” provides an upstairs/downstairs look at the scandals and secrets of both the Mendoza family and the staff that works for them.
The lastest plastic hero to join the “Toy Story” franchise is Forky, a disposable spork who has some serious qualms about being a toy. He comes to life in “Toy Story 4” alongside Woody and Buzz Lightyear, who teach him that he’s much more than trash. Tony Hale, the actor best known to audiences as
June 18, 2019 8:31AM PT Swedish production company French Quarter, the outfit behind Cannes Directors’ Fortnight entry “And Then We Danced,” is venturing into TV with a web series adapted from Henrik Bromander’s graphic novel “Kurs I självutplåning” (“Course in self-annihilation”). The comedy series has been commissioned by the Swedish broadcaster SVT, as first reported
June 18, 2019 8:12AM PT Tivo is getting ready to introduce the next generation of its DVR, if a new FCC filing is any indication. The new device, which is being called the Tivo Edge, is once again being made by set-top-box manufacturer Arris. A Tivo spokesperson didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
SoulCycle devotees will soon be able to listen to their favorite spinning soundtrack all day: SiriusXM is getting a dedicated SoulCycle Radio station this summer, and the two companies will also bring playlists from select SoulCycle instructors to Pandora. SoulCycle Radio is said to feature music curated by SoulCycle instructors, as well as inspirational messages
Rebellion, which owns the Judge Dredd and 2000 AD franchises, has set its first in-house projects that will use the company’s new studio space near Oxford, England. Post-apocalyptic thriller “School’s Out Forever” will be first out of the gate, shooting there and on location, followed by several projects based on Rebellion’s comic book and publishing
June 18, 2019 7:30AM PT HBO’s new series “Euphoria” has been causing waves due to the abundance of of violence, graphic nudity and drug use by its young characters that it puts on screen. Helped by star Zendaya, whose social media post prior to the premiere reminding viewers of the show’s mature themes has more
A stalwart Democrat plus Fox News Channel? That’s a recipe for making sparks fly. But Donna Brazile says she’s not looking for a fight when she appears on the cable-news outlet. Brazile, the former campaign manager for Al Gore in 2000 and a one-time interim chair of the Democratic National Committee, was named a Fox