Ashton Kutcher, Guy Oseary’s Sound Ventures Launches $240 Million AI Investment Fund

Dr. Jennifer Ashton is missing Amy Robach and T. J.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent France’s culture minister Rima Abdul-Malak gave her first interview with the international press at the Cannes Film Festival where she unveiled a plan to invest €350 million ($378 million) in the film and TV industry. Abdul-Malak also addressed some hot topics that are currently being debated within the industry, such as the windowing rules for streamers, the protests over the pension reform, the rise of the far right and criticism of France’s #MeToo movement. The government-investment initiative, called the Grande Fabrique de l’Image, is meant to bolster France’s position as a leader in film, TV and video games production, studio facilities, post-production, as well as film and TV training. The funding will go to 68 projects that were selected from 175 applicants by two committees, one of which is headed by filmmaker Cedric Jimenez (“November,” “The Stronghold”). Among the selected projects are 11 studio facilities, 12 animation studios, six video games studios, five visual effects and post production houses, and 34 training programs.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor YouTube’s biggest ad innovation for 2023? It might be borrowing a well-worn page from old-fashioned linear TV. At the YouTube Brandcast upfront event Wednesday in New York, execs announced the introduction of 30-second unskippable ads in top-performing YouTube content on TVs — you know, just like the commercials that have run on broadcast and cable networks for decades. YouTube also will start testing new “Pause Experiences” for YouTube on TV screens, showing an ad when viewers pause a video akin to the pause ads Hulu first bowed four years ago. In their pitch to Madison Avenue types, YouTube execs also boasted of the streaming service’s massive reach: More than 150 million unique viewers in the U.S. watched YouTube and YouTube TV on televisions for the month of December 2022, according to Nielsen estimates. YouTube remains the No. 1 most-watched service on TV screens in America (across both streaming platforms and traditional TV networks), and in April was one of the only streamers to see month-to-month growth, per Nielsen.

amid the ongoing, contentious Hollywood writers’ strike.The 49-year-old and his showrunners — Brian Boyle, Matt Weitzman, Rich Appel and Alec Sulkin — walked out in support of the ongoing Writers Guild of America work stoppage, Deadline recently reported. MacFarlane — who has voiced “Family Guy” characters including Peter, Brian and Stewie Griffin, and “American Dad!” lead Stan Smith — reportedly has no plans to return until an agreement between the WGA and his studio, 20th Television, is reached.“Family Guy” wrapped up its 21st season on Fox on May 7; however, MacFarlane’s popular “American Dad!” is two months into its 20th season, which premiered Mar. 27 on TBS.The latter has three months of scripts and voiceovers already in the can, according to Deadline, and the studio would need to devise a plan for moving forward with the rest of the season.Neither MacFarlane nor his Fuzzy Door Productions received a suspension letter from NBCUniversal, the publication claimed.The Emmy Award winner participated in the 2007to 2008 writers’ strike that lasted 100 days, so rejoining the movement 15 years later might not come as much of a shock.The Post has reached out to MacFarlane’s representatives for comment.On May.

Family Guy and American Dad until the Writers Guild Of America (WGA) has secured a new deal.As reported by Deadline, MacFarlane, who created both shows, and showrunners Brian Boyle, Matt Weitzman, Rich Appel and Alec Sulkin, told production company 20th Television last week that they will no longer work on their respective series until the strike ends.It’s claimed MacFarlane has been seen on the picket lines in support of the strike, which began on May 2 after unsuccessful negotiations between the WGA and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP).It’s unclear how disruptive the departures will be to each series.

Naman Ramachandran Nadiem Makarim, Indonesia’s minister of education, culture, research and technology, is set to launch an annual $13 million film grant at the Cannes Film Festival. This is the first government-funded film grant from Indonesia. It is sourced from the country’s National Cultural Endowment Fund. The 1:1 matching grant scheme from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Research and Technology is designed to promote international cooperations between filmmakers and is open for international co-production projects with Indonesia and for story development and research, production, post-production or internal promotion and distribution incentives.

BroadLight Capital, the investment firm founded by entertainment attorney Kevin Yorn, talent manager Rick Yorn and investment banker David Dorfman is launching a $225 million debut fund targeting growth stage consumer and tech companies. 

Manori Ravindran Executive Editor of International WestEnd Films and Keshet Studios have unveiled a first look at “Golda” director Guy Nattiv and “Holy Spider” star Zar Amir-Ebrahimi’s political thriller “Judo.” The image, which features Amir-Ebrahimi (left) and Arienne Mandi (right), follows an Iranian female judoka and her coach as they face life-changing decisions during the Judo World Championships. “Judo” (working title) is co-directed by Nattiv and Amir-Ebrahimi. It is co-written by Nattiv and Elham Erfani (“The Case of Sacrifice”). The project is the first feature film to be co-directed by an Iranian and an Israeli filmmaker, during a time when the Iranian government still criminalizes any contact with Israelis, and state violence against women is amplified.

Henry Cavill will recruit with director Guy Ritchie on his upcoming new “action-packed” film.The as yet untitled action thriller, which is set to begin filming this September, will see Cavill also joined by Jake Gyllenhaal and Eiza González.All three have appeared in films directed by Ritchie previously. Both Cavill and González have recently filmed upcoming film The Ministry Of Ungentlemanly Warfare with the director, while Gyllenhaal was the lead of Ritchie’s The Covenant.

Henry Cavill is teaming up with Jake Gyllenhaal and Eiza Gonzalez for a new movie!

“The Covenant” and the long-delayed “Operation Fortune: Ruse de Guerre,” the suddenly prolific British genre filmmaker has a new project set up by Black Bear International. The new film, with a title and plot under-wraps, is being prepped for buyers at Cannes and will mark a class reunion of sorts.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor It’s all Conan — all the time. Samsung Electronics America and Conan O’Brien announced a partnership that will bring highlights of his original Emmy Award-winning show “Conan” exclusively to Samsung TV Plus, the consumer electronics giant’s free, ad-supported TV service, starting next month. Conan O’Brien TV — the comedian and host’s first FAST channel — is a free, 24-hour linear streaming channel delivering programming curated as 30-minute compilations of clips featuring the best of his late-night archives, including sketch comedy and celebrity guest appearances.

Ashton Kutcher and Mila Kunis returned to Indio, California, over the weekend to attend the Stagecoach Country Music Festival. The bona fide country music fans were spotted in the desert for another year of music, sunshine and good times. An eyewitness tells ET, «Ashton and Mila stood towards the front at Stagecoach on Saturday when Nelly performed.

Melanie Lynskey in a Kiwi accent that is the antithesis of big and booming. “It’s high and quite quiet so I think it’s easy for people to make assumptions. ” People have been making assumptions about Lynskey for decades now.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Jeff Shell, the former chief executive of NBCUniversal, forfeited stock grants and options worth $43.3 million after he was fired for cause earlier this week, according to a Comcast regulatory filing. Shell was terminated as CEO of NBCU over the past weekend after an internal investigation into his relationship with Hadley Gamble, an international correspondent for CNBC. “As previously disclosed, Mr. Shell’s employment was terminated with cause on April 23, 2023. As a result, he did not receive any supplemental payments or benefits in connection with his termination,” Comcast said in its 2023 proxy statement. “He will receive only his accrued but unpaid base salary and vacation time, vested employee benefits and reimbursement for any unreimbursed business expenses in accordance with his employment agreement.”

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Triller reached an agreement with Sony Music Entertainment to pay $4.57 million to settle the music label’s breach of agreement lawsuit against the TikTok-style video sharing app, according to a court fling. Triller has admitted liability in the dispute, according to the filing, submitted by Sony Music’s lawyers April 26 to the federal district court judge in the case. Reps for Triller did not respond to a request for comment Friday. A Sony Music spokesman declined to comment. “Prompt entry of judgment is needed to protect against any further dissipation of Triller’s assets or, worse still, a bankruptcy filing,” Sony Music said in the request for the court to rule on the consent agreement. “Triller is more than a year late on some of those contract payments and Sony Music should not have to wait longer to enforce a judgment to collect.”

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Charlie Collier, who joined Roku last fall as president of its newly created media division, had a compensation package worth $53.3 million last year — more than twice as much as his boss, CEO Anthony Wood, took home. Collier left his post as CEO of Fox Entertainment to head up Roku Media, where he now oversees content and ad sales for the Roku Channel. Roku’s recruitment of the high-profile TV exec — who brought such hits as “Mad Men,” “Breaking Bad” and “The Walking Dead” to AMC — signaled that the company plans to spend more on original content. That said, Roku has been taking steps to cut costs, including laying off about 400 employees, after its revenue growth slowed dramatically in the last two quarters.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Roku came in above analyst estimates on the top line for the first quarter of 2023, as it gained 1.6 million active streaming accounts in the period. But the company told investors that the macroeconomic environment was still “challenged” in the quarter. The company posted Q1 sales of $741 million, up 1%, and a net loss of $193.6 million, or $1.38 per share. On average, Wall Street analysts were expecting Roku to post Q1 of $708.49 million and a net loss of $1.37 per share. Click here to sign up for Variety’s free Strictly Business newsletter covering earnings, financial news and more.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor YouTube, as part of promoting subscriptions to the newly secured NFL Sunday Ticket games package, is flying more than a dozen top creators to Kansas City, Mo., for the 2023 NFL Draft – including popular trick-shot specialists Dude Perfect. Dude Perfect, the five-member comedy and sports group with more than 59 million YouTube subscribers, and Ryan Trahan (12.3 million subscribers) are slated to appear on stage at the NFL Draft to announce some of the picks in this year’s draft. The 2023 NFL Draft, to be held April 27-29 at Union Station Kansas City, will be broadcast on ESPN, ABC and NFL Network. All told, the YouTube creators tapped to attend the NFL Draft have a combined reach of more 145 million subscribers, according to the video platform. In addition to the Dude Perfect crew and Trahan, YouTube creators scheduled to be on-site in KC this week at the 2023 NFL Draft include: NichLmao (23.6 million subscribers), Topper Guild (17 million), Jesser (12.8 million), Adam W (12 million), Deestroying (5.1 million), Lisa Nguyen (4.35 million), Pierson (3.7 million), Katie Feeney (3.2 million), Haley Kalil (1.8 million), Ashley Yi (1.1 million) and The Pivot (686,000).

Marc Malkin Senior Film Awards, Events & Lifestyle Editor Bungalow 8 is back – for one night only. Gucci is hosting a Bungalow pop-up in New York City on April 29, two nights ahead of the Met Gala. The fashion house isn’t commenting, but I got my hands on the official invite, which reads, “Amy Sacco & Gucci invite you to Bungalow Gucci.” Idris Elba will deejay the late-night soirée. Sacco opened the original Bungalow 8 in Chelsea in 2001. The small venue at 515 W. 27th St. went onto to become the hottest nightclub in the early and mid-aughts, attracting an A-List crowd — including George Clooney, Nicole Kidman, Sean Penn, Paris Hilton, Nicole Richie, Colin Farrell, Naomi Campbell and every other supermodel, Demi Moore, Ashton Kutcher, Matthew McConaughey, Sandra Bullock, Tom Cruise, Katie Holmes, Justin Timberlake, John Mayer, Sean “Diddy” Combs and Heidi Klum — before closing in 2009. Even former President Bill Clinton hosted a fundraiser for his presidential library at the club in 2003.