ABFF Ventures Rebrands to Nice Crowd, Announces Annual Comedy Festival in Washington, D.C. (EXCLUSIVE)

Levitate Music and Arts Festival.This year, that weekend is taking place Friday, July 7 through Sunday, July 9 and based on the annual festival’s lineup made of folk rockers, jam bands, reggae artists and more, it appears, the vibes will be on point as usual for the three-day weekend.Just a few of the melodious headliners gracing the stages at the Marshfield Fairgrounds stages this year include Brandi Carlile, Trey Anastasio Band, Stick Figure, Goose and Ziggy Marley.Shakey Graves, Rebelution, Lucius, Ripe and Peach Pit will be there too.Still, we’re most excited to see the legendarily chill Donovan Frankenreiter live.Plus, you won’t want to sleep on the live art or more than 30 food trucks (!) on the festival grounds all weekend long either.Need last-minute tickets for the multi-day musical extravaganza ASAP? We’ve got your back.Our team found three-day general admission passes going for $199 before fees on Vivid Seats at the time of publication.Single-day passes start at $150 before fees.Still need to know more about Levitate before levitating your finger over the purchase button?Keep reading.We’ve got everything you need to know and more about the annual multi-faceted festival below.All prices listed above are subject to fluctuation.A complete breakdown of all single-day and multi-day Levitate general admission passes can be found right here:(Note: The New York Post confirmed all above prices at the publication time.

“Cousins” was selected as a finalist in this year’s ShortList Film Festival, presented by TheWrap. You can watch the films and vote for your favorite here.To paraphrase one of the many quips Billy Crystal throws down in “When Harry Met Sally”: “In a city of 8 million people, you’re bound to run into your ex.” This is the shrewd setup for Karina Dandashi’s “Cousins,” a 13-minute, Brooklyn-set short centering on Layla (played by Dandashi) and Tarek (Ribal Rayess), two cousins whose reunion is turned upside down when Layla’s ex (Monica Sanborn) turns up at the same bar.“This is the first time I’ve actually done a comedy,” Dandashi told TheWrap.

“Next Goal Wins” will have its world premiere at the 2023 Toronto International Film Festival, TIFF organizers announced on Wednesday.Waititi’s Oscar-winning feature “Jojo Rabbit” also premiered at TIFF and won the festival’s People’s Choice Award in 2019. His most recent film was “Thor: Love and Thunder” (2022) for Marvel/Disney.A sports comedy starring Michael Fassbender, “Next Goal Wins” is based on the story of the 2014 American Samoa soccer team, which lost a FIFA match 31-0 and then hired a Dutch-American coach, Thomas Rongen, to help them prepare for World Cup qualifiers.

McKinley Franklin editor Jim Gaffigan will debut his next Amazon Original comedy special, “Dark Pale,” on Prime Video on July 25. “Jim Gaffigan: Dark Pale” is Gaffigan’s 10th comedy special, which will be available to stream in over 240 countries and territories. “Sometimes when people find out I have five kids, they think I’m good at parenting,” Gaffigan quips in the trailer for “Dark Pale. “Which is kind of like assuming people with lots of cats are not crazy.” Gaffigan is a seven-time Grammy-nominated comedian, actor, writer and producer who is known for his stand-up specials and roles in movies such as “Chappaquiddick,” “American Dreamer” and “Troop Zero.” As recently announced, he is set to embark on a five-city arena tour with Jerry Seinfeld this fall ahead of his Barely Alive Tour, which kicks off on Aug. 25 in Las Vegas.

Avenged Sevenfold were behind the deepfake AI “hack” that falsely announced cancellations of the band’s upcoming festival appearances.Earlier this year, an episode of the metal band’s podcast Trax featured an audio snippet from who appeared to be frontman M. Shadows – real name Matthew Charles Sanders – telling fans that Avenged Sevenfold would no longer be appearing at two US festivals they were scheduled to perform at – Welcome to Rockville in Florida and Sonic Temple in Ohio.The episode, which went live on Spotify, was subsequently shared on the band’s Twitter account.“Yikes! This is NOT TRUE. We are still playing.

The African American Film Critics Association will honor Jennifer Hudson, Delroy Lindo, Marla Gibbs, “Ted Lasso” and “S.W.A.T.” at the fifth annual AAFCA TV Honors.Hudson will receive the “We See You” Award, given to performers who demonstrate versatility in their work with consistent excellence in their craft. Delroy Lindo (“UnPrisoned”) will receive the “Legacy Award” presented to an artist or institution that inspires others to follow their path.Marla Gibbs will receive the “Legend Ward” for changing the landscape of TV and Film.The “Inclusion Award” will go to AppleTV+’s “Ted Lasso,” for it’s ability to “prioritize representation of people from all walks of life.” CBS’ “S.W.A.T.,” produced by Sony, will receive the “Impact Award” for its influential storylines and performances to the African American community.On July 19, the AAFCA will also announce winners in 14 categories, including Best TV Comedy, Best TV Drama, Best New Show, Breakout Star, Best Ensemble, Best Writing, Best TV Directing and more.

EXCLUSIVE: Swept Away, the Broadway-aimed musical with music and lyrics by roots rock band The Avett Brothers, has announced principal cast for its fall-winter 2023 production at Arena Stage in Washington, D.C., with John Gallagher, Jr. (Spring Awakening), Stark Sands (& Juliet), Adrian Blake Enscoe (TV’s Dickinson), and Wayne Duvall (the film O Brother, Where Art Thou?) will play the four survivors of a whaling ship disaster.

EXCLUSIVE: Gravitas Ventures on Wednesday announced their acquisition of North American rights to Fourth Grade, a comedy starring William Baldwin (Backdraft), Teri Polo (Meet the Parents), Mena Suvari (American Beauty) and Ben Begley (For All Mankind) that will be released on demand and in theaters in around 10 markets on July 14.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor Washington, D.C., needs to get set for a Monumental overhaul of its TV-sports traditions. In September, fans who once flocked to NBC Sports Washington will find they’ve landed at a new venue. Monumental Sports Network will soon serve as the area home of the NHL’s Washington Capitals, the NBA’s Washington Wizards, the WNBA’s Washington Mystics, the G League’s Capital City Go-Go and the NBA 2K League’s Wizards District Gaming. All the properties are held by Monumental Sports & Entertainment, a company led by former AOL executive Ted Leonsis. The company bought NBCUniversal’s 67% stake in the business last year, and will spend a chunk of 2023 putting its own stamp on operations.

The French film Le Colosse aux Pieds d’Argile and UK-Australia series Ten Pounds Poms took the top fiction prizes at the 62nd annual Monte-Carlo Television Festival, which were handed out Tuesday in Monaco. See the full winners list below.

Elemental” has several classic film inspirations behind it, ranging all the way from the 1967 romantic drama “Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner” to 1974’s “Godfather 2” (you read that right). For director Peter Sohn, no film was off-limits for a story that held deep personal connection to him.

EXCLUSIVE: In a move designed to “extend the intersection” of Hollywood, Broadway, London’s West End and regional theater, the movie-ticket site Hollywood.com and theater producer Nederlander Worldwide Entertainment announced today the formation of an online joint ticket-selling venture that will include content and ticket sales for live entertainment.

ABFF Ventures, the company behind the American Film Festival (ABFF), is rebranding as Nice Crowd.

EXCLUSIVE: Time has today unveiled Person of the Week, its first original podcast, hosted by Senior Correspondent Charlotte Alter, which will feature candid conversations weekly with the people shaping our world.

Naman Ramachandran Fremantle has unveiled a trailer for documentary feature “On the Line: The Richard Williams Story,” which will have its U.K. premiere at Sheffield DocFest. In the film, which premiered at the 2022 Tribeca Festival, the father of Venus Williams and Serena Williams retraces his family’s meteoric journey in his own words. Featuring never-before-seen archive material and new, in-depth, intimate interviews, the film tells the story of one man’s fight against racism, suppression and violence to raise two of the greatest tennis champions in history. Richard Williams takes the audience from his childhood in poverty-stricken Shreveport, Louisiana, where he was raised by his cotton-picking mother, to the tennis courts of Compton. As the film charts the Williams’ ascent to the tennis world stage, Richard provides insights into family life and also shines a light on unconscious bias and repression of Black people.

Vancouver is gearing up to host the 3rd annual International Indigenous Hip Hop Awards Show (IIHHAS) on August 11 and 12.

Fully Loaded Comedy Festival truly is fully loaded.At each and every show, the 50-year-old “shirtless wonder” Kreischer is bringing along some of the biggest names in comedy to perform alongside him.Just a few of the megastars set to perform with “The Machine” star on select dates of the 17-show run include Tiffany Haddish, Mark Normand, Shane Gillis, Dave Attell and Lewis Black.Fortune Feimster, Stavros Halkias, Jim Norton, Andrew Santino and Jay Pharoah will lend their talents to the proceedings as well.While we’re at it, Big Jay Oakerson, Dan Soder, Rich Vos, Rosebud Baker, Maddy Smith and Shane Torres are set to appear too.And while each and every show will be busting at the seams with talent, we’re happy to report that you won’t have to stretch your wallet thin to attend.In fact, at the time of publication, we found some tickets for the traveling roadshow going for as low as $22 before fees on Vivid Seats.By our estimation, that’s a steal considering there will likely be seven (!) top-tier comedians at the show of your choosing.Want to find out when, where and how much it will cost to see the Fully Loaded Comedy Festival of your choosing this summer?Keep reading — we’ve got everything you need to know and more below.All prices listed above are subject to inflation.A complete calendar including all tour dates, venues and links to the cheapest tickets available can be found below.(Note: The New York Post confirmed all above prices at the publication time.

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer Amid the pending fate of its co-parent company Vice Media Group, Vice TV is focusing on its latest season of “Dark Side of the Ring,” and Vice Studios-produced projects recently launched on other platforms, including “American Gladiators” on ESPN, “Bama Rush” at Max, and “100 Days to Indy” at the CW network. It’s also looking to the future, ordering second seasons of “Dark Side of Comedy” and “Sex Before the Internet” and greenlighting new series “Dark Side of the 2000s” for its own cable channel, in addition to moving Vice web series “One Star Reviews” to linear. As Vice’s president of global TV, Morgan Hertzan, put it, the Vice TV network — which is part owned by A+E Networks — is “very, very busy” right now.

Alfonso Ribeiro will host PBS’s A Capitol Fourth, the annual Independence Day celebration on the West Lawn of the U.S. Capitol.

For his sophomore feature, the follow-up to 2004’s little-seen indie House of D, David Duchovny serves up a similarly niche confection, a sometimes-zany black comedy based on his 2016 novel of the same name. The elevator pitch is a tough one; though it’s funny in places, the tone is all over the place, one minute aspiring for the arch, stoner laughs of PTA’s Inherent Vice, the next veering into straightforward sentiment with a rambling final section that hits a similar highway to the 2006 Sundance hit Little Miss Sunshine. There’s also the f-word: the looming curse of American baseball movies that don’t have the word Field in the title, which could hamper its commercial prospects in the wider world.