Moonbug Entertainment, the kids’ entertainment powerhouse behind the hit “CoComelon” franchise, is bringing on board its first chief marketing officer: Peter Stone, a nine-year veteran of Netflix. In the new role, Stone will be responsible for Moonbug’s global marketing strategy, as well as the evolution and growth of its brands. He will be based in
Former “Vanderpump Rules” star Rachel Leviss has returned to entertainment with a new iHeartPodcast, “Rachel Goes Rogue.” Leviss, who was previously known as Raquel Leviss, starred in Bravo’s reality television series “Vanderpump Rules” from Seasons 5 through Season 10. A spin-off from “The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, “Vanderpump Rules” follows the personal and professional
During the pandemic, Nigerian artist Rema came to the U.S. to play his debut album, “Rave & Roses,” for Virgin Music Group. The Afrobeats star was joined by folks from Mavin Records and Jonzing World, where he’s signed, to unveil a project that included what would become his first massive hit to date, “Calm Down.”
Teairra Marí says she’s done with Keri Hilson‘s passive-aggressive attitude and wants to get fully aggressive — as in serving Keri with a first-class butt kickin’ for years of talking behind her back!!! The R&Beef sizzled on Thursday when Teairra got wind of Keri’s chat on Tank‘s podcast last month. Waiting for your permission to
Charlie Sheen isn’t the only “Two and a Half Men” star to reunite with exec producer Chuck Lorre on his new Max comedy “Bookie.” Also making a cameo in the “Bookie” series’ opener: Angus T. Jones, the “half man” from “Two and a Half Men,” now all grown up. Sheen’s appearance on “Bookie” (which premiered
As “Only Murders in the Building” fans await a fourth season of the hit Hulu comedy, they can relive the antics of the show’s first season via a broadcast run on ABC this January. As it prepares to start returning new episodes of its strike-delayed series starting in February, the Alphabet net will fill the
As the special-effects makeup chief for “Saturday Night Live,” Louie Zakarian often has interesting demands put on his time. He once transformed Kate McKinnon into an offbeat mermaid. And he worked with Kyle Mooney to create the Baby Yoda character who made frequent appearances on “Weekend Update.” These days, Zakarian gets even more outlandish asks,
A densely layered multimedia project that combines music, comic book art, holograms and mini-movies, Metro Boomin’s “Heroes & Villains” is wildly ambitious. That scope and vision comes through in the music. “Superhero” sets the tone for the album with its propulsive beats and “The Dark Knight”-referencing Kanye West sample, while “Creepin’” finds the producer rebuilding
Linda Yaccarino, who’s already facing an uphill battle in winning over advertisers to X, has her work cut out for her to restore trust with big marketers after her boss profanely dissed those who had suspended advertising from the platform. Almost six months into her gig as CEO of X, Yaccarino continues to try to
Veteran television executive Jamila Hunter has departed Freeform to take on the role of president of Macro Television Studios. Macro founder and CEO Charles D. King on Thursday announced Hunter’s new role at the company, where she will oversee the television team and the slate of projects in development and production. “I couldn’t be more
Who should be counted as country music’s currently most successful songwriter? You’d be hard-pressed to find anyone who could come up with a metric where the end result is not clearly Ashley Gorley, who’s being honored as Songwriter of the Year at Variety‘s annual Hitmakers event. He has been a co-writer on five of the
Popular on Variety The Oscars will start one hour earlier for the first time. To ensure the show wraps within primetime hours, the Academy announced this year’s telecast, set to air live on Sunday, March 10, will be programmed from 7 p.m. to 10:30 p.m. ET / 4 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. PT. A 30-minute
Regarded for his wrenching, joyful lyricism as a bard of all things Irish, Shane MacGowan – the singer-songwriter known mostly for his work as frontman of the Celtic punk phenomenon the Pogues – was truly a tender poet of universal concern. Social blight, childhood dreams, national pride, coy romanticism, bloody Anglo-Irish politics, painful histories, the
“Kids Baking Championship” is cooking up a 12th season at Food Network and this installment of the Valerie Bertinelli and Duff Goldman-hosted competition will come with a whole new culinary curriculum for its young contestants. The fresh batch of episodes will debut Jan. 1 at 8 p.m. and focus on challenges “inspired by the best
It’s obvious from SZA’s music that she has a wide range of influences, from classic R&B to Joni Mitchell, jazz to pop-punk and beyond. But just how far those influences range becomes dramatically clear when she talks about the music in her house and at school growing up, and best of all, when starts looking
“Unexpected,” a documentary short about Black women living with HIV in the South, will premiere on Hulu on Dec. 1, which is also World AIDS Day. Produced by “Abbott Elementary” Emmy winner Sheryl Lee Ralph and directed by Zeberiah Newman, “Unexpected” follows activists Ciarra Ci Ci Covin and Masonia Traylor as they create an underground
Jodie Foster said in a new interview with Elle magazine that superhero movies are just “a phase,” one that has gone on a bit too long for her liking. The actor, who is currently earning Oscar buzz for her supporting role in Netflix’s “Nyad” and who is also headlining HBO’s “True Detective” Season 4 next
The Screen Actors Guild has named its executive producers to lead the creative team for the group’s upcoming 30th awards ceremony, which will stream live on Netflix for the first time. Baz Halpin, Mark Bracco and Linda Gierahn of Silent House Productions, the film, streaming and television production division of Silent House Group, are partnering
Freestyle Digital Media, the digital film distribution division of Byron Allen’s Allen Media Group, has picked up North American VOD rights to comedic crime thriller “City of Love.” The film, directed by Èric Boadella, follows troubled ex-con Spencer, who drives for a ridesharing company in Los Angeles after forging the registration of his old red
“Saturday Night Live” alum Aidy Bryant has been tapped to host the 2024 Film Independent Spirit Awards, which will once again stream live on Film Independent’s YouTube channel and IMDB.com from its signature Santa Monica beach tent location. Last year’s ceremony marked the first time since 1997 that the annual celebration of independent cinema and
After activist investor Nelson Peltz announced his intention to renew his proxy battle to secure seats on Disney‘s board, the company responded by alleging former Marvel Entertainment chairman Ike Perlmutter — who is in league with Peltz’s Trian Fund Management — has a personal grudge against Disney chief Bob Iger. In a statement responding to
MSNBC is shaking up its weekend schedule as CNN’s Saturday and Sunday offerings continue to provide competition. The NBCUniversal cable-news outlet plans to a launch a new panel show, “The Weekend,” co-moderated by Alicia Menendez, Symone Sanders-Townsend and Michael Steele that will air Saturdays and Sundays from 8 a.m. to 10 a.m. That move will consolidate anchors who had been
HBO has released the trailer for the upcoming comedy special “Leo Reich: Literally Who Cares?!,” set to debut on Dec. 16. “Literally Who Cares?!” stars comedian and writer Leo Reich in his HBO comedy special debut. The trailer shows off Reich’s brand of humor: “Sex is really where I come into my own as an
Banijay, the French TV production super-indie, has made an offer for All3Media. All3Media is the production-distribution giant behind shows including Jamie Dornan-starrer “The Tourist,” Phoebe Waller Bridge’s “Fleabag” and Dutch gameshow hit “The Traitors.” Warner Bros. Discovery and Liberty Global, the joint owners of All3Media, quietly put the company up for sale earlier this year.
The three singer-songwriters who make up Boygenius are musing about what they did and didn’t intend to accomplish when they went into the studio to make “The Record.” The six Grammy nominations they just collectively reeled in for their first full-length album together? Not actually part of the master plan. Neither was establishing themselves as
Disney CEO Bob Iger said at the New York Times’ DealBook Summit (via CNBC) following “The Marvels” flopping at the box office that there was a lack of supervision on the set of the film as a result of the COVID pandemic. The combination of pandemic set restrictions and Disney’s increased output due to the
Robert Rich met Winona Ryder shortly after the release of “Girl, Interrupted” in 1999 when she was shopping at the Marc Jacobs store in the Mercer Hotel in New York City. Rich, who was head of communications for the designer at the time, nervously approached the actor. “I said, ‘I loved ‘Girl Interrupted,’ and she went,
Nelson Peltz is renewing his fight to shake up Disney‘s board. Peltz’s Trian Fund Management investment firm, which owns about $3 billion in Disney stock, issued a statement Thursday that after the Mouse House’s board rejected Trian’s request for board seats, the hedge fund will “take our case for change directly to shareholders.” Trian is
“Tiger Stripes”, the opening film of this year’s Singapore International Film Festival (SGIFF), was “kind of a joke that became something very, very close to me and ended up being this film,” Malaysian filmmaker, Amanda Nell Eu, said during Thursday night’s opening ceremony. Speaking to a packed theatre before the screening, Eu said her inspiration
The New York Film Critics Circle, the first major critics group to kick off Oscar season by selecting the best films and performances from 2023, is announcing its winners. Celebrating its 89th year, the East Coast org comprises more than 50 journalists from publications such as Variety. NYFCC’s winner for best film has typically had