Banijay France’s New Boss Alexia Laroche-Joubert Unpacks Scripted Strategy, Unveils Acquisition of Premium Label Authentic Media (EXCLUSIVE)

EXCLUSIVE: An exposé about institutionalized corruption in the Hare Krishna movement is being adapted into a feature doc by Sphere Media.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Les Arcs Film Festival, the European equivalent to the Sundance Film Festival, has unveiled the list of projects which will be presented during its competitive Work-in-Progress showcase. Curated by Tribeca and Les Arcs’ artistic director Frederic Boyer and Lison Hervé, the selection will present a broad range of movies in post-production seeking a sales agent, festival slots and international distribution.

Michael Schneider Variety Editor at Large The two Hollywood strikes will have no impact on next year’s Emmy eligibility windows for either the Primetime Emmys or the Daytime Emmys, the heads of the two television academies confirmed this week. Meeting with reporters in a joint setting — a collaboration that used to be a rarity, back when they were warring organizations, but has now become more common — Los Angeles-based Television Academy president/CEO Maury McIntyre and New York-based National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences president/CEO Adam Sharp tackled a wide range of subjects, including an anticipated drop in submissions next year in scripted categories due to the strikes; whether there will be more category realignments; if the talk show fields will be further adjusted; a major change in governance taking effect next year at NATAS; and more.

EXCLUSIVE: Gersh Agency bosses have backed a new African streamer with a seven-figure investment.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Gerard Depardieu, who has already been indicted on rape charges in connection to a 2018 case, is facing more sexual assault allegations in a new complaint, Variety has confirmed. Hélène Darras, a French actor, has filed a police complaint alleging that Depardieu sexually assaulted her during the filming of “Disco” in 2007.

EXCLUSIVE: Indian filmmaker Nikhil Nagesh Bhat has signed with WME.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Something Special, the Seoul-based international format agency founded by format specialists Jin Woo Hwang (president and executive producer) and Kim In Soon (EVP & head of content) announce that ITV Studios has optioned the hit Korean celebrity format “Battle in the Box” for France, Australia, New Zealand, and Israel. The deal was unveiled on Wednewday, the first full day of the Asia Television Forum and Market (ATF) in Singapore. “Battle in the Box,” created by Korea’s NMedia and represented globally by Something Special, has previously seen deals announced with Fremantle for Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland, the Netherlands, Belgium and Portugal.

When comedian Stavros Halkias‘s first Netflix special Fat Rascal debuted on the service on Tuesday, it marked the culmination of 15 years of extremely hard work, the last two of which have been particularly “wild.”

Lawrence Steven Meyers, the veteran sales agent and producer who set up Meyers Media Group, has died in London. He was 67.

Meet the new KISS – not the same as the old KISS, but a version that could live forever.

Late Friday night and early on Saturday morning, expelled Rep. George Santos took to X to question the ethics of several former House of Representatives colleagues.

EXCLUSIVE: The In-Between: Unforgettable Encounters During Life’s Final Moments, a book about death, written by hospice nurse Hadley Vlahos is set to be turned into a scripted series.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor New rounds of layoffs took place Thursday at Condé Nast and Vox Media, the latest cutbacks in the publishing sector as companies look to tighten their belts. The job cuts at Condé Nast come after the company said earlier this month that it will lay off upwards of 300 employees, representing 5% of total headcount, and take other cost-reduction measures.

K.J. Yossman Banijay, the French TV production super-indie, has made an offer for All3Media. All3Media is the production-distribution giant behind shows including Jamie Dornan-starrer “The Tourist,” Phoebe Waller Bridge’s “Fleabag” and Dutch gameshow hit “The Traitors.” Warner Bros.

Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav gave former CNN chief Chris Licht a warm endorsement, even hinting at the possibility that the TV news vet could work again with the company.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Somewhat mysterious and fearless, Oscar-winning British actor Jeremy Irons has played a host of different characters during his decades-long career, from Adrian Veidt in Damon Lindelof’s TV series “Watchmen,” to Rodolfo Gucci in Ridley Scott’s “House of Gucci,” British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain in “Munich: The Edge of War” and Alfred Pennyworth in the DC Extended Universe films, including the latest “Justice League.” Reteaming with Palme d’Or winning Bille August for the third time, Irons will next play Abbé Faria, a noble and wise character, in the prestige limited series “The Count of Monte Cristo,” starring opposite fellow British actor Sam Claflin as Edmond Dantès. The premum limited series is distributed worldwide by Mediawan Rights, in cooperation with CAA (for North America).

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent In one of the biggest co-production deals unveiled at Content London, Mediawan‘s label Atlantique Productions has joined forces with Participant to make an ambitious limited espionage thriller series based on the Pegasus spyware scandal. Amit Cohen (“False Flag,” “Bad Boy”) and Ron Leshem (“Euphoria,” “No Man’s Land”) are on board as creators and showrunners for the mini-series which will adapted from the bestseller “Pegasus: How a Spy in Our Pocket Threatens the End of Privacy, Dignity, and Democracy.” The book charts the sprawling international investigation conducted in 2020 and 2021 which revealed how governments used Pegasus spyware technology to spy on politicians, activists and business executives.

First images have been released of Paolo Sorrentino’s new Naples-set movie, which remains as yet untitled. Scroll down for the eye-catching first shots from the production, which are a mix of stills and behind-the-scenes imagery.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent After being convincingly portrayed by Marion Cotillard in the 2007 film “La Vie en Rose,” legendary French singer Edith Piaf will come to life in an animated biopic “Edith” that looks to break new ground by using AI to recreate her voice and image. When Warner Music, which is producing the feature-length movie with Paris-based company Seriously Happy, broke news of the project last week, it stirred an avalanche of reactions — many of them skeptical — across social media. To clear up some concerns and shed light on the decisions behind the creative endeavor, Variety spoke to Julie Veille, who came up with the original idea, and Gilles Marliac who are co-producing through their banner Seriously Happy and co-wrote the script.

EXCLUSIVE: Banijay UK’s Chief Financial Officer is to exit the Big Brother juggernaut at the end of the year.