APA & AGI Agencies Merge To Create Independent Artist Group With APA’s Jim Osborne As CEO

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer Celebrity chef David Chang has signed a production deal with Brent Montgomery and Jimmy Kimmel’s Wheelhouse. Previously under a production agreement with Vox Media, Chang’s banner, Majordomo Media, has set a pact with Wheelhouse, a producer on Chang’s latest Hulu series, “Secret Chef,” to exclusively develop and produce unscripted programming across food, home and lifestyle, among other genres. Wheelhouse and Chang are also focused on creating original content and developing new talent for his new FAST channel, MajordomoTV, co-developed with LG Electronics.

Thania Garcia Madonna’s “Celebration” tour has been delayed again after being postponed after the singer developed a serious bacterial infection. The tour was originally scheduled to begin July 15 in Vancouver though the 64-year-old was rushed to the hospital on June 24 due to the infection, according to an Instagram post from her manager Guy Oseary. For the first time since her hospitalization, Madonna addressed the tour and her health writing that she was “on the road to recovery and incredibly grateful for all the blessings in my life.” She additionally added that she was going to reschedule the North American leg of the tour and bein in October in Europe.

EXCLUSIVE: Cole Brown, DreamCrew Entertainment, Jermaine Dupri, and Jami Gertz announced that production has wrapped on the forthcoming documentary series Magic City: An American Fantasy – a three-part series uncovering the story behind the famed Atlanta strip club, Magic City, and its decades-long influence on hip-hop. Drake joins the production through his DreamCrew Entertainment, with Executive Producers Adel “Future” Nur and Peter Nelson. Dupri joins with music executive Michael Mauldin as Executive Producer, and production company Scheme Engine.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Toho International, an offshoot of the storied Japanese film and TV giant Toho, is to launch twin e-commerce sites serving the growing legion of North American fans of Japanese pop culture. One platform is specific to the Godzilla brand. The other, iiZO, will cater to a wider range of anime fans who will be served with original Japanese merchandize. The moves are being headed by Kristin Parcell GM at Toho International, and her U.S.-based team who joined the firm from Crunchyroll at the end of last year. They foresee the twin initiatives as a business with $100 million of revenue within a few years. Their in-house operation comprises anime and “Godzilla” brand experts, and also includes specialist in merchandizing, buying and fashion. The sites go live at unspecified dates this summer.

Edith Bowman has revealed she spoke to her two sons about mental health after watching Lewis Capaldi struggling at Glastonbury.

Continuing the recent trend of artists being assaulted by thrown objects while on stage, Drake has become the latest victim.

Enhypen just announced that they’ll be playing six huge arena shows in the U.S. as part of their upcoming ‘Fate World Tour.’That includes back-to-back concerts at Newark, NJ’s Prudential Center on Wednesday, Oct.

Tom Brady felt right back at home with his Boston buddy Ben Affleck, and Ben's new wife, Jennifer Lopez, at a Fourth of July celebration in the Hamptons. Affleck, 50, sported a blazer and slacks for the star-studded soiree, where JLo showed off her sun-kissed skin in a strappy white gown with a pleated hem.

Independence Day: Resurgence star Vivica A. Fox has said that she thinks the film needed Will Smith to be a successful sequel.The 2016 sci-fi film, released 20 years after Independence Day, bombed in the US with a domestic box-office figure of $102million but recouped its $165million budget following a better showing worldwide (globally, it took $389million).

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief The Bucheon film festival’s Network of Asian Fantastic Films project market wrapped up three days of meetings and pitching sessions on Monday with a prize ceremony that disbursed cash, post-production support and invitations to related genre film events. “The Passport,” a Tamil- and English-language Malaysian project about an Indian rockstar who is forced to confront cultural expectations and her interactions with an imaginary friend, won the headline Bucheon Award for director Ananth Subramanian and producer Bel Choo Mun. It was both a popular choice among other NAFF participants and the unanimous decision of the jury. The numerical winner was “Please Bear With Me,” which saw director Gabriela Serrano and producer Gale Osorio from the Philippines collect three prizes. The project is a sci-fi and social issues mash-up about a call center operative who gets paid in dream-time and uses it to relive her glory days as a pop star. A clearly-surprised Serrano used her second visit to the stage to explain the film’s origins as a deep frustration with seeing Filipina women stuck at the bottom of society and yet apologizing for their ambitions.

Mark Harmon might have departed NCIS on camera, but he is still inspired by the agency every day.

Fall Out Boy have released an updated version of Billy Joel‘s ‘We Didn’t Start The Fire’ with headlines from the past 30 years.Joel’s 1989 Number one hit, ‘We Didn’t Start The Fire’, includes brief references to 118 significant political, cultural and scientific events between the years of Joel’s birth in 1949 and the song’s release in 1989.Today (June 28), Fall Out Boy shared a modernised version of the track, replacing the original lyrics with standout events from where the song left off in 1989 to 2023.“I thought about this song a lot when I was younger. All these important people and events – some that disappeared into the sands of time –others that changed the world forever,” shared the band on Twitter.“So much has happened in the span of the last 34 years – we felt like a little system update might be fun.

Shortly after being named CEO of Independent Artist Group, the full-service agency resulting from the merger of APA and music touring agency Artist Group International, Jim Osborne has named Jarred Arfa, Executive Vice-President, Head of Global Music.

UK chart-topper Lewis Capaldi emotionally thanked the Glastonbury crowd for helping him through his last number after he struggled with Tourette’s syndrome.

Cynthia Littleton Business Editor Jim Osborne is a product of the mailroom. The veteran talent agent, who has been named CEO of the newly christened Independent Artist Group, got his start in the representation field the old-fashioned way — by working his way of out of the ICM mailroom and assistant pool. Osborne has spent the past dozen years at APA, rising to partner in 2015 and to president in 2020. As of today, he advances to the top post, as APA combines into a new entity with Dennis Arfa’s music touring powerhouse Artist Group International. The deal brings such superstars into the fold as Billy Joel, Metallica, Smashing Pumpkins, Linkin Park and the Strokes, and was orchestrated in part by investor Ron Burkle and his Yucaipa Co. (which owned Artist Intl. and invested in APA in 2020).

on Twitter, though a cause was not mentioned. “An influential musician, and an integral member of the group, John contributed to some of the band’s most iconic recordings,” the band tweeted.

APA has taken a big step to fortify its future as a full-service talent agency by combining with touring powerhouse Artist Group Intl. to create the newly named Independent Artist Group, led by APA president Jim Osborne. Osborne will become CEO of Independent Artist Group (IAG), taking over day-to-day management of the firm. Jim Gosnell, APA’s longtime leader, segues into board member role with a mandate to evaluate growth and acquisition opportunities for the new venture. Dennis Arfa, co-founder of Artist Group Intl., will serve as chairman of IAG’s Music division. Artist Intl. Group president Marsha Vlasic becomes vice chairman of music.

Agency for the Performing Arts and Artist Group International, the premier independent music touring agency, have joined forces to create a more powerful full-service agency with one of the top music divisions in the industry. The two agencies have merged and will rebrand as Independent Artist Group, the companies said Wednesday.Jim Osborne, current president of APA is being named CEO of IAG, while Dennis Arfa, founder and CEO of AGI, is being named chairman of the music division of IAG, effective immediately.The board of IAG will consist of Osborne, Arfa and former longtime APA CEO Jim Gosnell, who will spearhead vertical growth opportunities for IAG while passing the baton of running the day-to-day operations of the agency to Osborne.

EXCLUSIVE: Blockbuster animated feature The First Slam Dunk will open Japan Cuts, a festival of Japanese cinema in New York, which will also feature a special tribute to late Oscar-winning composer Ryuichi Sakamoto. 

Saturday Night Live star Pete Davidson has been charged with reckless driving following an incident which occurred in March this year, when the 29-year-old comedian and actor was reportedly involved in a car crash in Los Angeles.