APA Merges With Touring Powerhouse Artist Group Intl., Rebrands as Independent Artist Group

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.

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.

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.

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media Reporter “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny” is stumbling in its box office debut, generating $70 million internationally and $130 million globally to start. Those ticket sales wouldn’t be bad for a film aimed at older audiences, except for the fact that Disney and Lucasfilm spent $295 million before marketing to bring the fifth and final action-adventure, starring Harrison Ford, to the big screen. “Dial of Destiny” is posting similar numbers to Warner Bros. and DC’s misfire “The Flash,” which opened to $75 million internationally and $139 million globally but cost $100 million less to make. Both tentpoles are expected to lose money in their theatrical runs.

“There’s something I have to tell you:” As an 18-year-old undergraduate at Harvard, Ted Hall was recruited to help Robert Oppenheimer and his team develop a weapon that would alter the course of human history. When the Atomic Bomb was detonated twice the following year, over the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Hall did not share in his colleagues’ enthusiasm for the Manhattan Project.

Thania Garcia The 1995 dystopic cyberpunk epic “Ghost in the Shell” follows Motoko Kusanagi, a cyborg with a technologically augmented human brain. Influential Japanese artist Hiromasa Ogura was behind the art direction for the cult classic – he also designed the cover art for producer Tainy’s full-length debut album “Data.” The anime is one of the Puerto Rican hitmaker’s favorites for its dark, moody aesthetics and for its message of individuality in a high-tech world. Leading up to “Data’s” release on Thursday, Tainy posted a series of stills that outlined the concept behind the 20-song album that features over 20 artists. Here’s just the tip of that iceberg: Bad Bunny, Daddy Yankee, Arca, Four Tet, Skrillex, J Balvin, Feid, Myke Towers, the Marias, Ozuna and Ratatat’s E.Vax.

EXCLUSIVE: Netflix has signed a five-year deal with Japanese screenwriter Yuji Sakamoto, winner of the Best Screenplay award at this year’s Cannes Film Festival for Hirokazu Kore-eda’s competition title Monster. 

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.

Following his Glastonbury performance last weekend, Lewis Capaldi has announced that he is cancelling all upcoming live shows in order to concentrate on improving his physical and mental health.Earlier this month, Capaldi cancelled several dates in the UK and Europe, saying that he needed time to “rest and recover” in order “to be at my best and ready for Glastonbury”. During a well-received performance at the festival on Saturday, the musician nonetheless visibly experienced ‘ticks’ as a result of his Tourettes syndrome – with which he was diagnosed last year – and later in the set began to lose his voice.In a statement posted to social media yesterday, he told fans: “The fact that this probably won’t come as a surprise doesn’t make it any easier to write, but I’m very sorry to let you know I’m going to be taking a break from touring for the foreseeable future”.“I used to be able to enjoy every second of shows like this and I’d hoped three weeks away would sort me out”, he continued.

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.

Prime Video’s unscripted originals push in the Nordics is continuing.

Lewis Capaldi took to the stage today (June 24) for his set on the Pyramid Stage Glastonbury Festival but at one point, struggled with his voice.Recently, Capaldi cancelled all work commitments until his performance at Glastonbury in order to “rest and recover”.The singer released a statement on June 5 explaining that the last few months have been a lot for him and that it had taken a toll on him “both mentally and physically”.“This is a really difficult message and one that hurts me a lot to have to type, but I’m really sorry to say that I’m going to have to cancel all commitments from now until I play Glastonbury on June 24th,” Capaldi wrote.“It’s been such an incredible time leading into this new album, and seeing all of the support from everyone has been beyond anything I could have ever dreamed of,” he added. “That said, the last few months have been full on both mentally and physically, I haven’t been home properly since Christmas and at the moment I’m struggling to get to grips with it all.”He continued: “I need to take a moment to rest and recover, to be at my best and ready for Glastonbury and all of the other incredible shows coming up so that I’m able to continue doing what I love for a long time to come.

K-pop boyband Stray Kids have released the music video for ‘Topline’, from their latest album ‘5-Star’.In the new music video, Stray Kids and featured artist Tiger JK perform the high-octane song in a warehouse atop shopping containers, as money falls from the sky.“On the top line, we swing to the beat show / Ha, hotline, hot, hot, we about to blow, top line / We can see the world under our feet, we’re the top line / Your neck must be stiff from only looking up,” they rap.‘5-Star’ includes a total of 12 songs, including the single ’S-Class’. The record also features their August 2022 track ‘Mixtape: Time Out’, as well as a Korean version of their Japanese single ‘The Sound’, plus ‘Get Lit’ and ‘DLC’.‘5-Star’ is Stray Kids’ first domestic release in over seven months, following their mini-album ‘Maxident’ in October 2022, as well as their first studio album since 2021’s ‘NOEASY’.The record has since become Stray Kids’ third consecutive Billboard 200 Number One, following their two 2022 releases, ‘Maxident’ and ‘Oddinary’.In other K-pop news, Tomorrow X Together (TXT) are set to collaborate with the Jonas Brothers on a brand-new single called ‘Do It Like That’.

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.

The consolidation in the talent representation space continues. Agency for the Performing Arts and music touring agency Artist Group International (AGI) are merging, with the combined full-service agency rebranded as Independent Artist Group (IAG). APA President Jim Osborne is being named CEO of IAG, with Dennis Arfa, founder and CEO of AGI, as Chairman of the Music Division of IAG. Former longtime APA CEO Jim Gosnell will serve on the board of AGI alongside Osborne and Arfa.

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.

Manchester City have agreed a fee with Chelsea to sign midfielder Mateo Kovacic and the Croatian looks set to become the first new arrival through the door at the Etihad this summer.

Automatik, the production company behind “La La Land,” is merging with Range Media Players, TheWrap has confirmed. As part of the merger, Automatik executives Brian Kavanaugh-Jones and Fred Berger have been named partners and co-presidents of film and production at Range.

EXCLUSIVE: The prolific film/TV production company Automatik has completed a merger with Range Media Partners, a deal that will further expand Range’s production capabilities and slate ambitions.