Variety

  • Biggie-Tupac-Suge Knight Doc Picked Up for U.S. by Gravitas Ventures (EXCLUSIVE)
    by msravindran on 2021-07-28 in Global, News, Documentaries to Watch, Gravitas Ventures, Suge Knight

    Gravitas Ventures has secured the U.S. rights to Nick Broomfield’s documentary “Last Man Standing: Suge Knight and the Murders of Biggie & Tupac.” The distributor will release the film, which is a sequel of sorts to the British filmmaker’s notorious 2002 docu “Biggie & Tupac,” in U.S. theaters this fall before seeking a home on

  • Venice-Bound Ukraine War Documentary ‘Trenches’ Boarded By Films Boutique (EXCLUSIVE)
    by Leo Barraclough on 2021-07-28 in Global, News, Films Boutique, Loup Bureau, Venice Film Festival

    Berlin-based sales agency Films Boutique has boarded Ukraine war documentary “Trenches,” which will world premiere at the Venice Film Festival in the Out of Competition section. French war journalist Loup Bureau, directing his first documentary, depicts the reality of the war that has been raging in Eastern Europe between Ukraine and Russian-backed forces over several

  • The Beautiful Dark Twisted History of Kanye West’s Unreleased Albums …
    by Jem Aswad on 2021-07-28 in News, Kanye West

    Say and think what you will about Kanye West — about his ego and politics and mental health and indefensible public statements and all the rest of it — but he actually is a musical genius, at least by the contemporary definition of the term. As a songwriter, lyricist and rapper, he’s excellent — but

  • TV Lags Far Behind Film in Disability Representation, Nielsen/RespectAbility Study Reveals (EXCLUSIVE)
    by varietyschneider on 2021-07-28 in News, Nielsen, RespectAbility

    Television still falls far behind film in depicting characters with disabilities, according to a new study released on Wednesday by Nielsen and the nonprofit org RespectAbility. As an encouraging sign, the report found that content featuring depictions of disability rose more than 175% over the past decade — but that the majority of those roles

  • Reese Witherspoon and Jim Toth to Executive Produce Stand Up to Cancer Fundraising TV Special
    by marcmalkin on 2021-07-28 in Health, News, jim toth, Reese Witherspoon, Stand Up To Cancer

    Reese Witherspoon and Jim Toth have signed on as co-executive producers for this year’s Stand Up to Cancer special taking place Aug. 21. Anthony Anderson, Ken Jeong, Tran Ho and Sofia Vergara have been announced as co-hosts. Common and Brittany Howard are slated to perform. More guests and performers will be announced in the coming

  • Sundance Winner ‘Writing With Fire’ Scores Raft of Global Sales, Reveals Trailer (EXCLUSIVE)
    by Naman Ramachandran on 2021-07-28 in Asia, Global, News, Autlook Filmsales, Sundance, Writing With Fire

    Rintu Thomas and Sushmit Ghosh’s documentary “Writing With Fire,” which won Audience and Special Jury awards at Sundance earlier this year, has sold to multiple territories. Sales agent Autlook Filmsales has sold the film to to E&O (The Netherlands), BBC Storyville (U.K. and Ireland), Bertha Doc House (U.K. theatrical), YLE Finland, SVT (Sweden), Knowledge (Canada),

  • ‘Pig,’ ‘Annette,’ ‘Here Today’ Join In-Person and Online Edinburgh Film Festival Lineup
    by Naman Ramachandran on 2021-07-28 in Global, News, Annette, Edinburgh International Film Festival, Here Today, Pig

    The U.K. premieres of Michael Sarnoski’s “Pig,” starring Nicolas Cage, and Billy Crystal’s “Here Today,” where he costars with Tiffany Haddish, will open and close the 74th Edinburgh International Film Festival. The festival will take place between Aug. 18-25 and will include 32 new features and 73 shorts, with 50% of the new features coming

  • Spotify Misses Overall Q2 User Target, Ad Revenue Jumps 110%
    by Todd Spangler on 2021-07-28 in News, media earnings, Spotify

    Spotify, citing ongoing headwinds from the COVID pandemic, fell short of its total monthly user growth goal in the second quarter of 2021. The audio-streaming giant netted 7 million paying subscribers in Q2, growing Premium customers 20% year over year to reach 165 million, in line with expectations. Total monthly active users grew 22%, to

  • Paola Suárez, ‘La Chica Que Limpia’ Producer, Dies at 41
    by John Hopewell on 2021-07-28 in News, Obituaries, Jaque Content, Paola Suarez

    Paola Suárez, producer of the breakout Argentine mob drama “La Chica que limpia,” died on Sunday after suddenly collapsing in Córdoba, Argentina, at the age of 41. Her death comes just months after Fox gave a series greenlight in May to “The Cleaning Lady,” a U.S. version of “La Chica que limpia” created by Miranda

  • Banijay France Buys French Music Entertainment Production Company DMLS TV
    by nvivarelli on 2021-07-28 in Global, News, Banijay France, DMLS TV

    Banijay France has acquired French music entertainment producer DMLS TV as it expands its local footprint. DMLS TV has access to some of France’s top artists and musical entertainment shows, such as “La Chanson Secrète” (The Secret Song), “La Chanson Challenge” (The Celebrity Song Challenge) and “Duos Mystères” (Mystery Duets). The company set up some