Disney Sets Company Record With $9B In Upfront Ad Commitments, Nearly Half Of Them On Streaming And Digital

Anna Tingley If you purchase an independently reviewed product or service through a link on our website, Variety may receive an affiliate commission. From sound engineers and screenwriters to celebrity makeup artists and stylists, Variety’s series “Ask an Insider” asks top professionals within the entertainment industry to share their must-have essentials, for work … and for play.

A retired biology teacher took his grandson up Schiehallion for the young boy’s first climb recently.

Jojo Siwa's mom wants to set the record straight. Jessalyn Siwa weighed in Tuesday on the controversy surrounding her daughter and Candace Cameron Bure on social media. Jessalyn revealed she had actually spoken about Jojo's interaction with Bure on her podcast "Success with Jess." "I talked about this on my podcast a while back," she captioned the video clip recalling the moment that led Jojo to claim Bure was the "rudest celebrity" the pop star had ever met.

Brent Lang Executive Editor of Film and Media“Cha Cha Real Smooth” director Cooper Raiff and former Black Bear Pictures development executive Clementine Quittner are teaming up to launch a new production company, Small Ideas, with a goal of developing and producing independent film and television projects.The duo are joining forces to make projects from emerging filmmakers and creators, as well as projects written and directed by Raiff. Their first endeavor will be an undisclosed television series which Raiff will write, direct, and produce, and which Quittner will produce.Raiff’s most recent film, “Cha Cha Real Smooth,” won the Audience Award at this year’s Sundance Film Festival and was acquired by Apple for $15 million.

Marta Balaga There has been an outpouring of love for Kelly Reichardt as of late, with the “Showing Up” helmer awarded a Carrosse d’Or at Cannes – only the fourth woman to be honored this way – and now a Pardo d’Onore Manor at Locarno.But it hasn’t always been smooth sailing for the U.S. director, described by the Swiss festival as a “committed, political and independent auteur.”“Things have gotten easier over time,” Reichardt tells Variety ahead of the event, looking back on her 28-year career.“I have done a lot of work in the last two decades and I work in a similar kind of mode and budget size. People are familiar with my producers and know them to be very reliable people.

Sophia Grace Brownlee wants to make it clear to everyone that she’s never got work done on her face!

smacked by Will Smith at the 2022 Academy Awards while headlining standup shows in New York and New Jersey over the weekend. “Anyone who says words hurt has never been punched in the face,” Rock, 57, declared while performing headline alongside Kevin Hart and Dave Chappelle at Madison Square Garden Saturday, ET Online reported.Elsewhere during the event Hart had brought a live goat onstage and introduced it as “Will Smith.”Rock elaborated during his set the following day at PNC Bank Arts Center in Holmdel, NJ, during a bit in which he riffed about people being overly sensitive, US Magazine reported.

Marc Malkin Senior Film Awards, Events & Lifestyle EditorOprah Winfrey opened Project Angel Food’s Lead With Love 3 telethon on Saturday.“When we find a way to serve other people, we see how compassion and empathy can really make a lasting, positive impact by showing up for somebody else,” she said in a video message.The event, which broadcast live on KTLA, raised more than $1.1 million for Project Angel Food, which provides meals to critically ill people in Los Angeles County.Presented by City National Bank, Lead With Love was hosted by Eric McCormack and KTLA Morning News anchor Jessica Holmes along with Alex Mapa and Loni Love.The evening also included a “Charlie’s Angels” reunion of Jaclyn Smith and Chery Ladd and appearances by Lori Loughlin, Cybill Shepherd, Pauley Perrette, Debbie Gibson and Charo. The celebrity phonebank included Melissa Peterman, Michelle Visage, Kim Coles, Jai Rodriguez, Beth Hall, Mary-Margaret Humes, Lawrence Zarian and Gregory Zarian.

Just several weeks after Adele said she stood by her decision earlier this year to postpone the Las Vegas residency, the British singer has announced the rescheduled dates: The “Weekends With Adele” residency at The Colosseum at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas will now take place from November 18, 2022, to March 25, 2023.

Richard Osman, the British TV presenter turned author who broke records with his debut novel The Thursday Murder Club, has revealed plans for a brand new crime series – like The Da Vinci Code.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefBoutique West Australia film festival, CinefestOZ announced its 2022 program featuring 270 film screenings and events.In its 15th edition, the six day destination film festival will be held from Aug. 23-28, 2022 across 35 locations in Western Australia’s South West, famous as a top wine producing region. Veteran actor, Richard Roxburgh ( “Moulin Rouge,” “Elvis”) was named as chair of the Jury that will award a A$100,000 ($65,000) film prize for best Australian feature film or feature-length documentary.Competing for the prize is director Gracie Otto’s feature film debut “Seriously Red” (which screened at SXSW earlier this year) which stars the film’s writer Krew Boylan as a Dolly Parton impersonator.

Taron Egerton can't seem to escape the rumors. The 32-year-old actor denied more theories that he's set to play the iconic character, speaking up on SiriusXM's Pop Culture Spotlight with Jessica Shaw this week. The tidbit marks over two years of speculation surrounding Egerton's potential casting — ET first spoke to him about the rumor at 2019 Comic-Con. «It's really flattering that people think that I'm the guy to do it,» Egerton said this week, «but there's no truth.» In 2019, Egerton voiced an almost identical sentiment.

Lisa Kennedy The poster for the documentary “On the Line: The Richard Williams Story” is cleverly acerbic. Against a white background stands one of the more derided — and more recently celebrated, via last year’s sports biopic, “King Richard” — figures in professional sports: Venus and Serena Williams’ father, Richard. He’s got a tennis racket in his hand and is clad in throwback tennis whites.