Amazon Spent $13 Billion on Film, TV and Music Content in 2021, up 18%

LOS ANGELES -- The husband of a cinematographer shot and killed on the set of the film “Rust” says it's “absurd” that Alex Baldwin believes he's not to blame for the shooting and he was “so angry” when Baldwin didn't accept responsibility.The remarks made in excerpts released Wednesday from an interview with the “Today” show are the first public words from Matt Hutchins on the Oct. 21 death of his wife Halyna Hutchins.“The idea that the person holding the gun and causing it to discharge is not responsible is absurd to me,” Matt Hutchins told ”Today" host Hoda Kotb in the interview that airs in full Thursday.Baldwin said in a December interview with ABC News that he was pointing the gun at Halyna Hutchins at her instruction on the New Mexico set of the Western when it went off without his pulling the trigger, killing her and wounding director Joel Souza.“Watching him I just felt so angry,” Hutchins said.

the heart attack he suffered while on set for Better Call Saul last year.On July 28, 2021, the 58-year-old star of the Breaking Bad prequel series collapsed in Albuquerque, New Mexico. His son, Nate Odenkirk, reassured fans the following day that the actor was “going to be okay”.Two days after the incident, Odenkirk, speaking for the first time since the incident, told fans on Twitter that he had suffered “a small heart attack” and would “be back soon”.In a new interview with The Guardian, Odenkirk has reflected on the incident, saying that it has made him realise that he has “to keep going”.“Some people make their way through an experience like that and think: ‘I have to change my life, I have to stop whatever,'” he said.

Salma Hayek Pinault just cemented a huge partnership with TelevisaUnivision. The actress and producer’s company, called Ventanarosa Productions, struck a two-year first-look pact with the TV giant, in which Ventanarosa will make Spanish speaking films for TelevisaUnivision’s ViX Plus, their soon to be released streaming platform. There’s already a project lined up for production.

Anna Marie de la Fuente Mexico’s most bankable stars, Gael García Bernal and Diego Luna, have teamed up with L.A. and Miami-based Exile Content to produce Travis Gutiérrez Senger’s documentary on the groundbreaking art group, “ASCO: Without Permission.”The documentary chronicles the Los Angeles based avant-garde art group ASCO during the 1970s and ‘80s.

Salma Hayek has signed a first-look deal with Univision for its recently announced streaming platform, ViX. Under the 2-year deal, Hayek, through her production company Ventana Rosa, will produce exclusive Spanish-language feature films.

EXCLUSIVE: Chris Weitz and Paul Weitz will co-write and co-direct Spanish Dracula, the true story about how silent film star and Mexican actress Lupita Tovar found a second wind starring in  Spanish language versions of Hollywood films like the Universal classic Dracula. The Weitz Brothers are her grandsons, and they will produce through Depth of Field, along with Pancho Kohner. He is their uncle and author of The Sweetheart of Mexico, a memoir he helped his mother write about her most fascinating life.

New Line has acquired Mexican filmmaker Issa López’s original screenplay “The Girl with a Thousand Names,” her follow-up to 2017’s acclaimed “Tigers Are Not Afraid.”López will direct and produce the feature for HBO Max, TheWrap has confirmed.Her breakout film “Tigers Are Not Afraid,” is a hauntingly poetic horror film about a group of children orphaned by cartel violence. It was nominated for nine of Mexico’s Ariel Awards and won two.“The Girl with a Thousand Names” will likely have the same blend of true-life horror and magical realism in its story about unaccompanied minors and children in a detention center who have been separated from their families at the U.S.

Green Day's Billie Joe Armstrong is asking his fans for help. On Saturday morning, the 49-year-old musician took to Twitter revealing that his 1962 Chevy II had been stolen in Costa Mesa, California. "My car was STOLEN 1962 Chevy II," he wrote alongside several photos of the missing classic.

Jennifer Lopez, 52, wowed on Feb. 4 when she made an appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon in an eye-catching set of outfits. The singer performed her new song “Marry Me”, from the new film Marry Me, with Maluma, and wore a flattering white bikini top under a matching cropped blazer and a long skirt. Before she sang, she also wore a long bright red dress with spaghetti straps as she happily chatted with the show’s host, Jimmy Fallon.

Leo Barraclough International Features EditorAmazon Prime Video has acquired the North American and Latin American rights to Anthony Nardolillo’s “7th & Union,” starring Mexican actor/comedian Omar Chaparro (“Pokemon: Detective Pikachu,” “Stuck”). Grandave Intl.

Chris Willman Music WriterSheryl Crow, Nick Cave, King Crimson, Dio, XXXTentacion, Tanya Tucker, Chumbawamba, Courtney Barnett, Cesária Évora and Mojo Nixon — together again for the first time: These are some of the highly diverse subjects of a slate of music documentaries (or, in the case of Tierra Whack, a fictional film) set to unspool at the South by Southwest Film Festival in Austin March 11-20.The 16 movies represented in the “24 Beats Per Second” lineup are nearly all world premieres, in a film festival that skews toward SXSW’s original roots as a pure music festival by always carving out a special category for features that chronicle musicians or music scenes.The music doc coming into the festival with probably the highest level of fan anticipation is , which promises to have director Sabaah Folayan offering “a sensitive portrayal” of a precocious, highly controversial, Soundcloud-based rapper “whose acts of violence, raw musical talent and open struggles with mental health left an indelible mark on his generation before his death at the age of 20.” While many of the festival entries are looking for a sale from their exposure at SXSW, “Look at Me!” is already set to stream on Hulu this summer. Joining the artist profiles in the film lineup are documentaries about the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, “Jazz Fest: A New Orleans Story,” by co-directors Frank Marshall and Ryan Suffern, and rubber bridge guitars, in “Really Good Rejects,” a film that will have producer Aaron Dessner talking about using them on Taylor Swift’s recent folkier albums.Some of the films promise to be complete life and career chronicles, like those devoted to Crow, Barnett and Dio.

Gene Maddaus Senior Media WriterA new bill would require film workers in New Mexico to pass a hunter safety course if firearms are present on set.The bill, SB 188, was introduced on Monday by Sen. Cliff Pirtle, R-Roswell.

Audio Up, home to such audio programs as Stephen King’s “Strawberry Spring,” Michael Cohen’s “Mea Culpa” and the just-released Audible exclusive “Maejor Frequency,” is bolstering its executive ranks with the hiring of music supervision trailblazer PJ Bloom and label marketing veteran Christine Kauffman.Bloom (pictured at left) will serve as co-president of music, alongside John Ingrassia. Kauffman has been named executive VP, brand strategy and partnerships.Bloom’s resume includes, most recently, a nearly five-year run at Warner Records, where he served as SVP of film and television music and soundtracks, leading the label’s creative, marketing and licensing efforts in the music for screens space.

CBS and CMT have set a new April air date and venue for the 2022 CMT Music Awards. CBS’ inaugural broadcast of country music’s entirely fan-voted awards show will now take place live on Monday, April 11 from 8-11 PM Live ET/delayed PT from Nashville’s Municipal Auditorium, and various locations in and around the city. The show will also be available to stream live and on demand on Paramount+.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorThe CMT Music Awards, which agreed to move their date and venue when the 2022 Grammy Awards announced their relocation to Las Vegas, have unveiled the new date and venue for their inaugural broadcast on CBS: The show will now broadcast live from Nashville’s Municipal Auditorium on Monday, April 11, from 8 p.m – 11 p.m. ET; the West Coast broadcast will be delayed, although the show will also be available to stream live and on demand on Paramount+.“The biggest and best moments in music are coming to CBS this April,” said Jack Sussman, executive vice president, specials, music, live events & alternative programming for CBS.

Mónica Marie Zorrilla Televisa and Univision have closed their landmark transaction, a long-awaited merger deal that will now create a Spanish-language media and content powerhouse that will reach 100 million Spanish speakers across the U.S. and Mexico.

SANTA FE, N.M. -- A Republican New Mexico legislator wants movie actors and other film-set professionals to undergo state-sponsored gun-safety training after a cinematographer was fatally shot last year by Alec Baldwin with a weapon he says he thought was not loaded with live ammunition.State Sen.