BAFTA has tweaked the rules for some of its TV categories in order to open up the awards to more women directors and international non-scripted shows.
15.09.2022 - 16:17 / variety.com
Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent The ongoing overhaul of Rome’s Cinecittà Studios is getting traction thanks to booming demand from international productions just as the number of sound stages increase, prompting realistic prospects of turning a profit by end of 2022, which is a year earlier than planned. Cinecittà has been undergoing a radical revamp devised by managing director Nicola Maccanico since June 2021, when European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen and Italian premier Mario Draghi (pictured above at Cinecittà) jointly visited the iconic studio lot and held a press conference in its vast Studio 5 — known as the late, great filmmaker Federico Fellini’s second home — to announce a €300 million ($300 million) investment to meet the growing international demand for studio space,
Maccanico, a former Warner Bros. and Sky Italia senior exec, said Cinecittà is now operating at full capacity and booked up through mid 2023. This is largely due having lured international productions such as Vatican thriller “Conclave,” directed by Edward Berger and toplining Ralph Fiennes and Stanley Tucci, produced by FilmNation Entertainment; and Angelina Jolie-directed drama “Without Blood,” starring Salma Hayek, which was the first to use the facility’s spanking new T18 virtual production stage with a giant LED wall. “Without Blood” shot at Cinecittà as part of the studios’ overall five-year service deal with Fremantle under which Joe Wright-directed high-end TV series “M,” chronicling Benito Mussolini’s rise to power, will also soon starting shooting there. Cinecittà, which has full-service facilities, including editing suites, sound mix, and 35mm film processing, has also been benefitting from Italy’s generous
BAFTA has tweaked the rules for some of its TV categories in order to open up the awards to more women directors and international non-scripted shows.
As told to Photography by Tiffany Mrotek, 35, is director of career pathways at American Forests. She lives in Reston, Virginia, with her husband, Andrew, and her two children, Porter, three, and Harvey, three months.
The mayor of a small northwest Georgia town has died in what’s being described as a freak accident.
John Morayniss’ Blink49 Studios and Sex Education producer Eleven are working up a series adaptation of author M.L. Rio’s novel If We Were Villains.
Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent The 17th annual Rome Film Festival will fete James Ivory with a career honor, a mini retrospective and the Italian launch of the Oscar-winning filmmaker’s personal new documentary “A Cooler Climate.” Ivory is expected in Rome to receive the award and present the doc about his life as a traveler that takes its cue from boxes of film the director shot during a life-changing trip to Afghanistan in 1960. The film premieres beforehand at the New York Film Festival. Rome’s Ivory mini-retrospective will comprise his films “Maurice”; “Mr. and Mrs. Bridge,” starring Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward; “The Remains of the Day”; and “A Room With a View.”
Kate Ward, Vice Studios Global President and the boss of Pulse Films, has joined BBC Studios to oversee factual.
K.J. Yossman Ben Stephenson’s new transatlantic scripted label Poison Pen Studios has tapped Sky Studios exec Preethi Mavahalli as its new creative director. Before joining Sky, Mavahalli was at indie Mammoth Screen, where she as director of drama she developed and executive produced hits including “The Serpent,” “Noughts + Crosses” and “The War of the Worlds.” She has also worked at Film4 and Film London. Poison Pen was launched under the ITV Studios banner by Stephenson, formerly Bad Robot’s head of television, in July. The studio is based between London and L.A. and will focus on high-end premium drama. Mavahalli will work across both locations alongside Stephenson.
Like The Conners and Two And a Half Men, ABC’s The Goldbergs dealt with the controversial exit of a lead actor by killing their character off screen.
Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Russell Crowe will be a guest of honor of the Rome Film Festival’s independently run Alice in the City section where his second directorial effort, the thriller “Poker Face” – in which he stars opposite Liam Hemsworth – is set to have its world premiere. Set in the world of high-stakes betting, “Poker Face” stars Crowe as tech billionaire and gambler Jake Foley, who offers his best friends a chance to win more money than they’ve ever dreamed of. But to play, they’ll have to give up the one thing they spend their lives trying to keep – their secrets. As the game unfolds, the long-time pals will discover what is really at stake.
EXCLUSIVE: HBO’s hit comedy-drama series The White Lotus recently finished filming its second season at Italy’s Lumina Studios to the north of Rome.
Naman Ramachandran AGC International, the international sales and distribution arm of Stuart Ford’s AGC Studios, has revealed a raft of pre-sales on Richard Linklater’s “Hitman” and Anna Kendrick’s “The Dating Game.” “Hitman” will begin production in New Orleans in early October and “The Dating Game” in Vancouver later the same month. “The Dating Game,” which marks Kendrick’s directorial debut, tells the chilling true story of serial killer Rodney Alcala, who appeared on popular U.S. dating program “The Dating Game” — and was selected to go on a date with contestant Cheryl Bradshaw (to be played by Kendrick) — before his grisly crimes were ultimately exposed.
Owen Gleiberman Chief Film Critic If you’re someone who considers themself a foodie (and I totally am), chances are there was a moment in the last few years when you had The Awakening. It may have been when the waiter was describing the veal marrow with beat foam served with baby lettuces from New Zealand. It may have been when you were eating the red snapper that was cooked halfway through, like a rare steak, and you thought, “I love sushi, I love cooked fish, but I’m not sure this is really the best of both worlds.” It may have been when you saw the bill. Whatever the trigger, that was the moment you looked up from your plate and realized that high-end foodie culture has become a serious annoyance. It’s gotten too fussy, too pricey, too full of itself, too not filling (of yourself), too avant-garde and conceptual, too tied to The Salvation of the Planet, too much of an ordeal. Did I mention too pricey? It used to be that if you wanted to ridicule culinary mania, you mocked someone like Guy Fieri. But he has risen from the ashes of infamy to a kind of born-again respectability (and yes, “Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives” was always a great show). Now, if you want to ridicule culinary mania, the most natural targets are restaurants like The French Laundry in Napa Valley or Bros’ in Southern Italy, places where the 12-course “tasting menu” can inspire you to think, as one blogger put it, that “there was nothing even close to an actual meal served.”
Voltage Pictures and several dozen affiliates and copyright owners have sued Comcast for allegedly refusing to jettison Internet subscribers that repeatedly watch pirated films on illegal BitTorrent sites.
Jazz singer Peter Cincotti opened up the Cafe Carlyle’s season with a special show and Katharine McPhee joined him on stage for a surprise appearance!
NBC is getting close to making decisions on its remaining three off-cycle pilots.
Manori Ravindran International Editor Corus Entertainment has struck an overall deal with U.K.-Canadian production company Dominion of Drama, and appointed its founder Jeff Norton as the head of its new imprint, Waterside Studios. Waterside Studios is positioned as a new IP and production venture focused on premium scripted Canadian content for youth and primetime audiences. The outfit will cater to the Canadian as well as international marketplace. Norton most recently served as a consultant for Corus, and previously as executive producer of “Trucktown” for production company Nelvana. He also co-wrote the novel “Keeping the Beat,” which was one of the launch titles for Kids Can Press’ young adult KCP Loft imprint.
It was a big night for HBO’s runway hit The White Lotus at the 2022 Primetime Emmy Awards, winning nearly all the major categories it was nominated in. Sydney-born out gay Australian actor Murray Bartlett took home Emmy for best supporting actor in a limited series, while co-star and gay icon Jennifer Coolidge won the best supporting actress in a limited series. In his acceptance speech, Bartlett thanked White for “giving me one of the best experiences of my life” and gave a shout out to his mom. “I just want to thank my mom all the way home in Australia for giving me the most wonderful foundation of unconditional love. And inspiring me to believe that we can all do that for each other.
The White Lotus breakout star Murray Bartlett claimed the first Emmy of his career tonight, for his outlandish role as Armond, the ingratiating but conniving luxury hotel manager in the HBO limited series.