A Scottish Wrexham? Former Netflix Exec Erik Barmack ‘In Talks’ To Invest In British Soccer Club Motherwell

EXCLUSIVE: Rotterdam competition title Small Hours of the Night from Daniel Hui (Demons, Snakeskin) and SXSW premiere Adrianne & The Castle by Shannon Walsh (The Gig is Up, Illusions of Control) have landed international reputation via non-fiction agency Indox. 

BAFTA Unveils Special Award Winner & Host For 2024 Craft Gongs

Lexi Carson Jane Nefeldt, former senior executive of the Writers Guild of America West, has died. She was 71. The WGAW said she died on April 16 in Hermosa Beach, Calif.

Tom Holland and his brother Harry Holland were pictured arriving at the opening night of the Sands: International Film Festival of St Andrews. The Scottish film festival is set to take place over three days.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Max Cutler sold Parcast Studios, his scripted-audio entertainment start-up, to Spotify in 2019 under a deal in which Spotify ultimately paid nearly $90 million. Cutler went on to become Spotify’s VP, head of talk creator content and partnerships — inking exclusive licensing deals with podcasters including Alex Cooper, Emma Chamberlain and Markiplier, and managing the company’s partnership with “The Joe Rogan Experience” — before exiting last year. Now Cutler is back in the game with the launch of Pave Studios.

Max Cutler, the former Spotify executive who oversaw the audio streamer’s deals with the likes of Alex Cooper and Joe Rogan, is launching his own company.

EXCLUSIVE: Revenge star Emily VanCamp has found her next role, and it’s a juicy one.

IAC, the Barry Diller-owned company that controls The Daily Beast, has landed a strategic partnership with former Disney executive Ben Sherwood and Hearst veteran Joanna Coles to define the digital publication’s next chapter in a struggling media climate.

Days after he left Amazon, Chris Brearton has found a new gig.

Alissa Simon Film Critic Scottish auteur Lynne Ramsay and former Icelandic Film Center (IFC) chief Laufey Guðjónsdóttir received honors from the 10th anniversary edition of Reykjavik’s Stockfish Film & Industry Festival (April 4 – 14, 2024). The awards, presented during a reception on April 11th, celebrate outstanding contributions to the film industry both internationally and domestically.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Marco Mueller has been appointed artistic director of Italy’s Taormina Film Festival, which will have a top notch selection committee comprising British film curator and former London fest chief Sandra Hebron and former Cannes Directors’ Fortnight boss Edouard Waintrop. As anticipated by Variety, Mueller, who over the past decades has headed both the Venice and Rome fests — among several other events — is taking the reins of the storied Sicilian event that has had its ups and downs over the years. Held since the mid-1950s in the Sicilian resort known to U.S.

Former Netflix Head of Comedy Jane Wiseman is joining Jane Featherstone and Liz Murdoch‘s Sister entertainment group in a newly created position as Head of U.S. Television. Based in Los Angeles, Wiseman will report to Cindy Holland, Sister’s Global CEO, and will lead the company’s U.S. television business, specifically focused on development and production of premium scripted series.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Italian collecting company Artisti 7607, which represents thousands of local acting and dubbing talents, has announced it is suing Netflix in a Rome court “to obtain adequate and proportionate compensation due by law to its mandated artists.” Artisti 7607, which was founded as a co-op more than a decade ago by a group of Italian A-list actors including Elio Germano — who in 2015 won top acting honors in Cannes with Daniele Luchetti’s “Our Life” — has long been doing battle with Netflix over residual rights. “After more than eight years of sterile negotiations to obtain the data necessary to determine the compensation for artists in observance of European and national legislation, Artisti 7607 is forced to appeal to an ordinary court to request compliance with the law,” the indie collecting company said in a statement.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Federation Studios has acquired distribution rights to “The Morning After,” an eight-part comedy series headlined by up-and-coming British actor Amara Okereke (“In the Lost Lands”). It filmed on location in Cape Town in South Africa. The show is produced by Paris-based company Paradoxal and Cape Town-based outfit Both Worlds, which previously partnered on “Recipes for Love and Murder.” The series is co-produced by SWR, ARD FabFiction and Prime Video Africa.

AMC Networks International has installed Antonio Ruiz, Warner Bros. Discovery’s former UK and Ireland General Manager, as its boss in Spain and Portugal.

EXCLUSIVE: Israel’s Keshet International (KI) has struck its latest co-development deal, a partnership with British presenter Bettany Hughes‘ indie SandStone Global.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Disney‘s games group has bulked up executive ranks with new hires and promotions after the announcement of its $1.5 billion investment in Epic Games and partnership to create a virtual world featuring the Mouse House’s brands and characters. Ray Gresko, formerly chief development officer at Blizzard Entertainment (who left prior to its the Microsoft acquisition of Activision Blizzard), joins the Disney Games team as senior VP, product and development.

Tim Chan If you purchase an independently reviewed product or service through a link on our website, Variety may receive an affiliate commission. Spanish football crowns a new champion today as Athletic Club faces off against Mallorca in the 2024 Copa del Rey Final. The Copa del Rey Final takes place today, April 6 at 4 p.m.

Universal Studio Group has found its new business affairs chief – three months after the departure of Masami Yamamoto.

Lexi Carson More Matt Rife is coming to Netflix. Following his comedy special “Natural Selection” in November 2023, Rife will make two more specials at Netflix.