Ballantyne Strong Launches Strong Studios, Will Produce Michael Rapaport Dramedy for Screen Media

EXCLUSIVE: Michael Ellenberg’s Media Res, the production company behind high-profile scripted series such as Apple TV+’s The Morning Show and upcoming Pachinko, is expanding into nonfiction. The company has launched a new division, focused on premium nonfiction content, including docuseries, documentary films and unscripted programming.

“The Batman” is clearly a massive hit and already has fans desperate to know more about future plans for sequels. To that end, and as teased in the past, Warner Bros.

Adam B. Vary Senior Entertainment Writer“The Batman” director Matt Reeves released a deleted scene from his superhero epic on Thursday featuring Robert Pattinson’s Caped Crusader facing off against his classic nemesis, the Joker, played by Barry Keoghan.

EXCLUSIVE: BBC Studios and Chicken Soup for the Soul Entertainment-backed Screen Media have struck a multi-year deal for 2,500 hours of content including BBC dramas Ripper Street, Happy Valley and Silent Witness.

Michele Amabile Angermiller How are we supposed to live without Michael Bolton? “American Song Contest” doesn’t have to answer that question just yet, as Connecticut-based Bolton and his song “Beautiful World” could still place next week through a combination of votes through fans and jurors. But the early lead on night one of NBC’s U.S.

David Viramontes “The Batman” star Robert Pattinson imbues his shadowy crime fighter with an outsider’s emotionality that allows the viewer to read his performance as the costumed vigilante just as easily as his performance as the wealthy recluse Bruce Wayne. But that wouldn’t be possible without the work of David Crossman and Glyn Dillon, the costume designers behind the new Batsuit.The artists credit new fabrication technologies unavailable to previous Batman designers that allow costumes to be made with a nuanced performances in mind, giving Pattinson a greater range of movement and expression.

EXCLUSIVE: Carlos King, who has exec produced series including The Real Housewives of Atlanta and Love and Marriage: Huntsville, is getting into the podcast game.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorSuperstar Puerto Rican songwriter-producer Tainy, who has helmed such hits as “I Like It” (by Cardi B featuring Bad Bunny and J Balvin), “Dakiti” (by Bad Bunny and Jhay Cortez), and “Telepatia” (by Kali Uchis), has sold his pre-2021 music catalog to fast-rising Influence Media (Influence Media Partners).Terms of the deal were not disclosed, although sources tell Variety it was in the $25 million range.The San Juan native (real name: Marco Masis) has appeared on Variety’s Hitmakers list several times and spoke with us about his hits last year. A four-time Grammy nominee and Latin Grammy winner, Tainy has helmed hits for Daddy Yankee, J Balvin, Rosalia, Lauren Jauregui, Zion & Lennox, Anuel, Ozuna, Don Omar, Wisin & Yandel, Rauw Alejandro, Jhay Cortez and more.

EXCLUSIVE: Screen Media has acquired North American rights to Chris Sivertson’s psychological horror pic Monstrous, starring Christina Ricci (Yellowjackets), ahead of its weekend world premiere at Glasgow FrightFest. The Chicken Soup for the Soul Entertainment company plans to release the film in theaters and on demand on May 13.

Sky Studios, the original programming arm of broadcaster Sky in Europe, has bolstered its UK Drama Commissioning team with a pair of hires.

Former MGM Motion Picture Group President Jonathan Glickman has launched his new venture Panoramic Media, Glickman announced on Tuesday.Key investors to the new startup include Gary Barber, Spyglass Media Group, Eagle Pictures, Lantern Entertainment, Pinky Promise, and United Talent Agency (UTA). The financing will fund IP creation across film, television, podcast and digital.Panoramic Media will expand upon Glickman’s existing slate of projects set up at Netflix, Amazon, MGM, Warner Media, Paramount, and MRC, as well as a joint podcast venture with iHeartMedia.Panoramic Media has also made its first key hire, and named industry executive Jose Gutierrez as Chief Operations Officer and Chief Financial Officer.

EXCLUSIVE: Jonathan Glickman has launched Panoramic Media, a multi-platform content venture. The former MGM Motion Picture Group President launches with investment from Gary Barber, Spyglass Media Group, Eagle Pictures, Lantern Entertainment, Pinky Promise and United Talent Agency.  Glickman wasn’t putting a number on the investment, but it is significant for the startup, which will be platform agnostic with the financial resources to develop projects across all platforms.

Jon Burlingame editorMichael Giacchino’s dark symphony for “The Batman” — from his brooding theme for Bruce Wayne to children’s choir for the Riddler and noirish stylings for Catwoman — is the year’s most talked-about score and among his most ambitious yet.When Warner’s WaterTower label released a “Batman” track in late January, it racked up an astounding 2.3 million views on YouTube — the highest global streaming engagement the label had ever seen for pre-release from a score album. And interest has only grown in the weeks since the subsequent teasings of more Giacchino music and Friday’s release of the movie.“Michael brought soul, he brought dread, he brought all of the emotional and atmospheric undercurrents that a movie like this requires,” director Matt Reeves tells Variety.

Diversified holding company Ballantyne Strong has launched Strong Studios, a new wing of its entertainment division, with two scripted series already in the works for 2022.

ITV This Morning doctor Michael Mosley says one of the classic mistakes made by anyone who can't sleep is to try to spend MORE time in bed.

EXCLUSIVE: Tony Amendola (Stargate SG-1) will topline Rough Magic: Exit Shakespeare, a new film from veteran TV director Andy Wolk (The Practice) and Silver Spring Road Films that has recently wrapped production.

A radical starts a different kind of revolution in the ’70s.

Jennifer Maas TV Business WriterMary J. Blige’s iconic ’90s song “Real Love” is being turned into a Lifetime movie, with the Queen of Hip-Hop Soul executive producing the made-for-TV film.One of her most beloved and memorable tracks, “Real Love” was Blige’s first song to hit the Top 10 and was certified gold two months after its release in 1992.Per Lifetime, in the coming-of-age romantic drama “Real Love,” Kendra sets off on her own for the first time to a college in upstate New York, determined to focus on her studies.