Dentsu Aims to Test VideoAmp-Backed Ad Buys Across Seven Media Companies

Manchester United loanee Brandon Williams has deleted a post on his Instagram story mocking his former club Norwich City's league position.

Will Tizard Contributor The story of a Lakota Native American man torn between his ancestral home and a career in the big city inspired two U.S. filmmakers to invest 13 years into “Without Arrows.” Their doc, which is slated to premiere onscreen in December or early next year, was one of eight U.S.-made projects pitched at the Ji.hlava International Documentary Film Festival this week as part of the New Visions Forum development program.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor AMC Networks believes it has new technology that will move advertisers closer to their desired goal of being able to buy ad time across linear TV and its digital counterparts. The company, which owns the AMC, BBC America and We TV cable networks, among others, says it has enabled programmatic ad buying on three of its linear outlets after a successful pilot last month.

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media Reporter Universal and Blumhouse’s haunted horror film “Five Nights at Freddy’s” looks to make a killing in its box office debut. The video game adaptation is expected to collect at least $50 million over the weekend, but analysts suggest the final number may be higher. “Five Nights at Freddy’s” will open simultaneously on Peacock, which makes it especially impressive that it’s projected to land one of the biggest horror debuts of the year.

Lenny Henry has launched a scripted production outfit backed by the £50M ($61M) Banijay UK Growth Fund.

K.J. Yossman Lenny Henry has launched a new production company backed by Banijay U.K. Titled Esmerelda, the new venture will focus on drama and comedy with an emphasis on under-represented voices.

John Hopewell Chief International Correspondent Fotosíntesis Media, a Mexican pioneer in cause-driven entertainment, has unveiled “Ch’ulel,” a 2D fantasy adventure animated feature for 6-8s tapping into the mindset of Tzeltal community. Mexico City-based, Fotosíntesis Media burst onto the scene in 2015, launched by Cannes-winning director Carlos Reygadas and producer Jaime Romandia and director-producer Miguel Angel Uriegas.

Rangers chief James Bisgrove admits he’d love to keep Graeme Souness involved with the club after the former boss played a key role in recruiting Philippe Clement.

Brent Lang Executive Editor Queue, a growing app for movie and TV show tracking, reviews and recommendations with over one million downloads in the last year, has partnered with Lionsgate on a new promotion tied to the release of “The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes.” The app is backed by notable filmmakers including Oscar and Emmy-winning producer Todd Lieberman of Hidden Pictures and filmmaker David Gordon Green. Liberman is the producer of “The Fighter” and “The Proposal,” while Green directed “Halloween” and “Pineapple Express.” The pair teamed on the drama, “Stronger.” As part of the promotion, two Hunger Games fans will get a chance to attend the red carpet fan screening of “Songbirds & Snakes.” Next week, Queue kicks off the sweepstakes. Any U.S.-based user can enter.

The lawsuit – filed in a Nashville court on Wednesday (October 18) by UMG’s publishing company Universal Music Publishing Group, along with co-plaintiffs Concord Music Group and ABKCO – seeks potentially tens of millions of dollars in damages from Anthropic and its AI assistant service Claude (per Music Business Worldwide)It claims that, “in the process of building and operating AI models, Anthropic unlawfully copies and disseminates vast amounts of copyrighted works — including the lyrics to myriad musical compositions owned or controlled by Publishers”.“Publishers embrace innovation and recognise the great promise of AI when used ethically and responsibly,” the suit continued. “But Anthropic violates these principles on a systematic and widespread basis.

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer Esports company GameSquare, backed by Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones, is set to acquire struggling influencer andgamer brand FaZe Clan. Per a statement issued by GameSquare and FaZe Clan Friday, “The combined company will be powered by a progressive end-to-end platform of leading media and agency organizations, gaming and esport teams, creative services, and technology capabilities.” As part of the deal, GameSquare is appointing FaZe Clan founders at the top of the brand, which will operate as an independent division of GameSquare, to “reestablish authority”: Richard “FaZe Banks” Bengtson as CEO, Thomas “FaZe Temperrr” Oliveira as president, and Yousef “FaZe Apex” Abdelfattah as COO.

EXCLUSIVE: TelevisaUnivision streamer ViX+ has ordered a relationship drama about two mothers fighting the urge to be together.

Eva Longoria and Cris Abrego, two of the most high-profile Latinos in Hollywood, have joined forces.

Two experimental films executive produced by Steven Soderbergh — Eddie Alcazar’s Divinity and Godfrey Reggio’s Once Within A Time – join Neon’s anticipated Anatomy Of A Fall, Cannes Palme d’Or winner, in theaters today, a bit of counter-programming on a weekend dominated by Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour. 

EXCLUSIVE: The Bureau creator Eric Rochant is today formally unveiling his production banner, Maui Entertainment, which has quietly launched with backing from Federation Studios.

BBC, ITV, Hartswood Films, and Sister are to be investigated by the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) over possible breaches of antitrust laws when engaging freelance crew members.

Cynthia Littleton Business Editor As Big Media becomes ever more consolidated, Studios71 is preparing to launch a flotilla of startup media businesses in the coming years. The creator services company is designed to fulfill a range of production, marketing, distribution, advertising and sponsorship sales functions for its social media star clients. The end game is to turn personalities into brands that harness the power of their followings in social media first and foremost.

Disney was desperate to find a way to make “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs,”the first feature-length animated movie ever made, actually feel like a feature-length movie. He’d been doing his best to ignore the naysayers who christened the very idea of the film as “Disney’s folly.” But they did trigger a nagging concern for the 35-year-old studio chief: Audiences might reject an animated movie if it remained stuck in the realm of the flat, two-dimensional shorts that had propelled Mickey Mouse to worldwide celebrity.

Last week, a Greater Manchester gig venue was saved in a first-of-its-kind music scheme led by the ‘National Trust of music venues’.

Azealia Banks is coming very hard for Drake on social media.