EXCLUSIVE: We hear that Amazon in a competitive situation has taken the Jennifer Lopez-produced Skydance TV series Backwards in Heels off the table. The show will be written and directed by Oscar nominee Richard LaGravenese and follows the aspirational and timeless story about the glamourous women living at the Barbizon Hotel in post-WWII New York […]
EXCLUSIVE: AMC Networks is strengthening its performance marketing team, promoting Sylvia George to EVP of the group, and adding former Audacy, Showtime and MTV exec Brian Swarth as Senior Vice President of Subscriber Engagement and Product Marketing. George, who was promoted to EVP from her previous SVP role, reports to Miquel Penella, president of streaming […]
ISS, an influential shareholder advisory firm, has recommended “withhold” votes for the three Discovery directors up for reelection at the April annual meeting “due to poor stewardship” in compensation. It cited longstanding concerns over pay at the company that most recently include a “problematic” severance arrangement and a $200 million stock option grant in CEO […]
National CineMedia told advertisers today that it can help them reach “the unreachables,” aka 18-to-34-year-olds who are drawn more to movies than to linear TV. In an upfront presentation held for an unmasked, in-person crowd at New York’s Lincoln Center, the company announced the launch of a new data platform, NCMx, which contains 274 million […]
Joe Biden told reporters that he was expressing his “moral outrage” when he said that Vladimir Putin “cannot remain in power,” but it did not reflect a change in U.S. policy. Biden made the surprising remark at the end of his speech on Saturday in Poland, and reporters quickly seized on the comment as a […]
The long awaited, heavily promoted CNN+ debuts on Tuesday, with a lineup of live and on-demand programming and, in the media world, a dose of doubts. Among them: Rivals already have staked their space in the streaming universe. The subscription streaming service needs more must-have programming to lure customers already satiated in monthly fees. And […]
UPDATED with latest: Florida Governor Ron DeSantis fired back at Disney and others who condemned his signing of Florida’s HB 1557, also known as the ‘Don’t Say Gay’ bill today. The Walt Disney Company, one of the state’s largest employers, said today through a spokesperson that the bill “should never have passed and should never […]
Anna Lore (All American) has been tapped for a series-regular role in the CW’s pilot Gotham Knights. Lore will play one of the leads, Stephanie Brown, in the DC Comics-based project. Written by Batwoman trio of Chad Fiveash, James Stoteraux and Natalie Abrams, Gotham Knights picks up in the aftermath of Bruce Wayne’s murder, with […]
Gerard McMurray (The First Purge) will write and direct an adaptation of the comic book Black for Studio 8 and Warner Bros., Deadline has confirmed. The comic introduced in 2016 by Black Mask Studios hails from writers Kwanza Osajyefo and Tim Smith 3 and illustrators Jamal Igle and Khary Randolph, examining a world in which Black people […]
The morning after a raucous Oscarcast that saw Will Smith slap presenter Chris Rock in the face over his joke about Jada Pinkett Smith’s hair, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has issued another statement. “The Academy condemns the actions of Mr. Smith at last night’s show. We have officially started a formal […]
Aaron Sorkin has found his Broadway follow-up to To Kill A Mockingbird: The West Wing creator will pen a new book for the classic Lerner & Loewe musical Camelot. The Lincoln Center Theater revival of the 1960 musical will reunite Sorkin and Mockingbird director Bartlett Sher, with previews set to begin at Lincoln Center’s Vivian […]
Hillary Rodham Clinton to tackle Sondheim? Well, in a way. The former First Lady will voice an off-stage role for an upcoming Arkansas Repertory Theatre production of the musical Into The Woods. No singing required. Clinton will voice the role of The Giant in the fairy tale retelling, a small, off-stage speaking role that’s traditionally […]
Oscars producer Will Packer has changed his tune regarding Will Smith’s shocking slap of Chris Rock at last night’s ceremony. Initially, Packer responded to the incident by tweeting, “Welp…I said it wouldn’t be boring #Oscars.” The remark drew criticism from many, with one Twitter user replying, “Making jokes about an assault that happened during your […]
Paramount Pictures CEO Brian Robbins has just made it effective that the studio’s COO Andrew Gumpert will be taking on the additional oversee of Nickelodeon Studios. Gumpert arrived at the Melrose Ave. lot from Sony in January 2017, when the late CEO Brad Grey was at the studio, filling the need for a sharp business […]
Peter Gadiot (Yellow Jackets) is the latest to join the cast of Netflix’s upcoming One Piece. Gadiot will play Shanks, the legendary captain of the red-haired pirate crew in the live-action series based on the Manga classic, from Tomorrow Studios and One Piece publisher Shueisha. The casting news was announced Monday by Gadiot himself via […]
British actor and producer Noel Clarke will not face criminal charges over sexual harassment allegations made last year after London’s Metropolitan Police dropped its investigation, citing a lack of evidence. The bombshell 2021 story, reported by The Guardian, saw more than 20 women accuse the Bulletproof and Doctor Who star of various incidents of misconduct […]
CBS News and The Weather Channel have announced a partnership on weather reporting and technology. The Weather Channel’s reports will be featured during the network’s morning and evening newscasts, including CBS Mornings and CBS Evening News with Norah O’Donnell, as well as the CBS News Streaming Network. The partnership also includes investigative reports from both […]
“The Slap Heard Around The World” is how Australia’s Sydney Morning Herald has appropriately described it. The Oscars have once again permeated the cultural conversation. Sadly, for the wrong reasons. Will Smith’s rash and disproportionate response to Chris Rock’s ill-advised jibe has landed plenty of column inches and air time on the international stage. The […]
UPDATE, with Craig Melvin ‘Today Show’ comments ABC’s Good Morning America was clearly poised to lead off its morning-after Oscar coverage with the traditional feel-good moments of winners’ speeches and surprise triumphs, but instead the hosts offered a dour account of what no doubt will go down as one of the most shocking moments in […]
The dramatic events at Sunday night’s Oscars ceremony did not deter Best Actor winner Will Smith from attending the Vanity Fair after party, family in tow, to celebrate his first Academy Award. Earlier in the evening, Smith had stunned the audience and viewers at home when he walked on stage during the ceremony at the […]
PVR and INOX Leisure, two of the largest cinema operators in India, are merging to create a multiplex giant in the country. The deal, which will be subject to regulatory approvals, would see the combined entity oversee more than 1,500 screens across 109 cities. PVR is India’s biggest chain with 850 screens, while INOX has […]
France’s president Emmanuel Macron has celebrated the win of CODA at the Oscars last night by tweeting his congratulations to the filmmakers involved. Sian Heder’s Apple TV+ movie is a remake of the French film La Famille Bélier, which was box office hit back in 2014. French producer Philippe Rousselet, one of the creators of […]
“It makes me nostalgic for the year of La La Land and Moonlight,” one executive lamented about the now infamous Will Smith/Chris Rock debacle that is all anyone is talking about post the 94th Oscar show. Another top marketing exec with a Best Picture nominee this year actually told me at the Governors Ball that he thinks this […]
EXCLUSIVE: The BBC has acquired the second series of Nick Hornby/Stephen Frears’ high-end short form series State of the Union from Endeavor Content. See-Saw Films’ second run, a Sundance TV original, moves Stateside and features Brendan Gleeson, Patricia Clarkson and Esco Jouléy. Clarkson plays Ellen, a liberal campaigner who drags her traditional, self-made husband Scott […]
Call My Agent! creator Fanny Herrero has been unveiled as President of this year’s Canneseries Jury. Herrero will be joined by Anne Marivin – star of the French Netflix sensation – on the six-person Jury, alongside Dallas Buyers Club’s Denis O’Hare, Sex Education’s Sami Outalbali, True Detective’s Ólafur Darri Ólafsson and composer Daniel Pemberton. The six will […]
