CAA Signs ‘Sing Sing’ Filmmakers Greg Kwedar and Clint Bentley (EXCLUSIVE)

Funeral For a Friend have announced that their singer Matthew Davies-Kreye has decided to leave the band.In a lengthy post on Facebook, the band have said that the decision was made amicably, and that the remaining members intend to carry on and create new music.“Hey folks, it’s with a heavy heart that we announce that after 20+ years, our singer and brother Matthew Davies-Kreye has decided to move on to pastures new going forward, and leaves with all our love, respect and gratitude,” the band wrote.“While Matt moves on, the rest of us have come out of our recent ’20 Years Casually Dressed’ anniversary tour with a renewed spark and desire to create new music together, for the first time in this lineup for many years.”“We’ll keep you updated on that in due course, but suffice it to say that we wouldn’t be entertaining new music if we didn’t feel the material we’re currently writing would hold up to the legacy of what we created back in the day.

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media Reporter “Exmas” filmmaker Jonah Feingold is directing a new romantic comedy, “31 Candles.” The independent film will feature the ensemble cast of Jackie Sandler, Dale Moss of “The Bachelorette” fame, comedian Jared Freid, Catherine Cohen (“The Twist…? She’s Gorgeous”), “Abbot Elementary” actor Larry Owens and newcomer Sarah Coffey. The call sheet also includes Caroline Aaron (“The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel”), Djouliet Amara (“The Big Door Prize” on Apple TV+), Seth Barrish (“Billion”) and Lori Tan Chinn (“Awkwafina Is Nora from Queens”).

Jem Aswad Executive Editor, Music It’s obvious from SZA’s music that she has a wide range of influences, from classic R&B to Joni Mitchell, jazz to pop-punk and beyond. But just how far those influences range becomes dramatically clear when she talks about the music in her house and at school growing up, and best of all, when starts looking at the playlists in her phone. For much more from this remarkable interview, see our “SZA: Variety’s Hitmaker of the Year” article. What kinds of music were playing in your house when you were growing up? My mom has a lot of church music; my dad has a lot of jazz and abstract music; my sister plays a lot of melodic hip-hop and rap. And I love classical music, I love jazz, I love music with color.

Bobby Brazier has been dazzling the Strictly Come Dancing audience with his beaming smile and infectious personality ever since he stepped foot in the ballroom with professional dance partner Dianne Buswell.

After months of speculation, former Emmerdale star Charley Webb has confirmed she has split from actor Matthew Wolfenden. She confirmed the news with a post on her Instagram, asking for privacy as they make their children their priority. Writing on Instagram, Charley posted: "It is with love and respect that Matthew and I have decided to separate.

Naman Ramachandran Actor-writer Vishnu Manchu has grand plans for big-budget Indian epic “Kannappa.” The film revisits the folk tale of Kannappa, an atheist hunter who became a devotee of Hindu god Shiva and plucked out his eyes in an act of extreme devotion. The story was previously filmed in the Kannada and Telugu languages as “Bedara Kannappa” and “Kalahasti Mahatyam” in 1954, both starring Rajkumar; in the Hindi language as “Shiv Bhakta” (1955), starring Shahu Modak; in Telugu again as “Bhakta Kannappa” (1976), starring Krishnam Raju; and in Kannada again as “Shiva Mecchida Kannappa” (1988), starring Rajkumar, Shiva Rajkumar and Puneeth Rajkumar.

Scream” franchise lost two stars this week, putting the seventh film in the series in a creative conundrum, according to sources familiar with the project. Variety broke the news that Melissa Barrera was fired by Spyglass, the film’s producer, in recent days over social media messages that it deemed to be antisemitic (specifically, posts regarding the Israel-Hamas war). That decision was made after the company was notified that Jenna Ortega, whose star has risen considerably since she joined the beloved Wes Craven horror series, would not return due to a scheduling conflict with the second season of her smash Netflix hit “Wednesday.” Barrera and Ortega play sisters in the films.

Ringo Starr has responded to “terrible rumours” that John Lennon‘s real voice doesn’t feature on The Beatles’ new single ‘Now and Then’.Earlier this month, Starr and Paul McCartney shared ‘Now And Then’ – the last track from The Beatles to feature all four original members.The track stems from a demo tape recorded by the late Lennon and was completed with the help of AI – which lifted the songwriter’s vocals off the initial recording and allowed the surviving members to work with them, rather than recreating the artist’s voice altogether.Starr previously said that he thought the project was “beautiful” and admitted that working on the single was “like having John Lennon back”.In a recent interview with AARP, Starr took a moment to dispel rumours about the song’s creation. “There were terrible rumours that it’s not John, it’s AI, whatever bullshi t people said,” he said.

Jonah Hauer-King is hard at work at an upcoming season of Doctor Who!

Sadly the case of the mysterious dismembered body and the case of the missing filmmaker may be one and the same…

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer The film adaptation of Alice Clayton’s rom-com novel “Wallbanger,” set up at Tosca Musk’s romance-focused streamer Passionflix, has rounded out its cast with “Love Island” star Roselyn Sánchez, “And Just Like That” actor Cathy Ang and four more supporting cast members. Based on Clayton’s 2012 New York Times best-selling book, “Wallbanger” is an irresistible tale of exasperation at first sight, according to the film’s official synopsis.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief EST Media, the Asian-focused film and video group, hatched by Jaeson Ma and former Vice Media executive Eric Tu, is now diversifying into publishing. It is launching EST Articles under its Eastern Standard Times journalism banner. The digital-only publication is “dedicated to exploring the voices and stories of the Asian and Asian diaspora communities through written medium to long-form, in-depth articles,” EST Media said.

Michaela Zee Adam Sandler first introduced “The Chanukah Song” in 1994 during the “Weekend Update” segment on “Saturday Night Live.” Although he penned the holiday tune himself, Sandler revealed in an interview with Access Hollywood that Roseanne Barr — who was hosting that week — almost performed the song on the late-night show. “They were talking about Roseanne singing it,” Sandler recalled. “And she was nice enough to say ‘no, let Adam do that, that’s his, he wrote it, that’s his song.'” During the “Weekend Update” segment with Norm Macdonald in 1994, Sandler explained that he wrote the song after noticing the lack of music about Hanukkah.

By diving headlong into the title role for Flora and Son, Eve Hewson — the daughter of U2 frontman Bono — conquered her fear of singing, the actress said at Deadline’s Contenders Film: Los Angeles in a panel with co-star Joseph Gordon-Levitt and the film’s composer and primary songwriter Gary Clark.

Oliver Anthony has announced a run of UK and Ireland live dates for 2024.The ‘Rich Men North of Richmond’ singer will make stops in Glasgow, Manchester, London, Belfast and Dublin between February 7 and 13 – see the full details below. Tickets go on general sale at 10am GMT this Friday (November 17), and you can order them here.The dates will be part of the Virginia singer-songwriter’s first international headline tour, which is also set to take in Europe and Australia.‘Rich Men North of Richmond’ became a viral sensation in August, reaching Number One in the US Charts, making Anthony the first artist to debut at that spot without any previous chart entries.

If you’re a fan of The Rolling Stones, you’re probably familiar with the life of Brian Jones, one of the founding members who would go on to depart the band before they really reached their pinnacle. Jones’ story is, sadly, very similar to many rock geniuses of that era, a life consumed by fame, drugs, and all the other temptations, ending in the only way it could.

Lime Garden have shared their latest single ‘I Wanna Be You’ from their upcoming debut album ‘One More Thing’. Check it out below.Speaking about the track in a press release, the band’s frontwoman Chloe Howard said: I Want To Be You’ was inspired by a very specific memory I have as a 14-year-old at my first gig looking at the band playing and thinking, ‘do I Want to be you or be with you, or do I want both?'”She continued: “This feeling has continued to raise its head on many occasions in my life, and it’s become quite an obsessive process at times.

EXCLUSIVE: Luchina Fisher, the filmmaker behind Netflix’s forthcoming documentary short The Dads, has signed with CAA for representation.

Valerie Wu Intern Disney Branded Television has acquired first-generation Taiwanese American filmmaker Sean Wang’s award-winning documentary short, “Nǎi Nai and Wài Pó.” “Nǎi Nai and Wài Pó” features dialogue in both Mandarin and English and is a “multigenerational story” that celebrates Sean Wang’s two grandmothers, one on his father’s side and the other on his mother’s side. The film premiered at the SXSW film festival, where it took home the Grand Jury Prize and Audience Award.

Angelique Jackson Veeps, the streaming platform founded by Joel and Benji Madden, is expanding its reach to include a comedy vertical featuring new specials from superstars like David Cross, Brad Williams, Katherine Ryan, and Reggie Watts. The Live Nation Entertainment-affiliated company will also be the exclusive streaming home for select sets from SF Sketchfest’s 21st edition in early 2024.