Fandom CEO Perkins Miller on the Importance of IP as Hollywood Slashes Costs

Lise Pedersen Award-winning US producer and distributor Karin Chien (“Robot Stories,” “Circumstance”), whose latest co-production, “Man in Black,” is one of two films by Chinese director Wang Bing running in Cannes’ official selection, shared her experience with the crowd during a masterclass at Cannes Docs, the Film Market section dedicated to documentary films. “Man in Black” premiered at a special screening in Cannes on May 22. Wang’s other film selected in this year’s edition is main competition title “Youth.” In the talk, moderated by Documentary Association of Europe co-founder Brigid O’Shea, Chien put on her distributor’s hat to talk about a job she said was “not pitched enough but [represented] some of the most meaningful work she [had] ever done.”

Naman Ramachandran “To Wong Foo The Musical,” based on 1995 film “To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar,” will have its world premiere at the Hope Mill Theatre in Manchester, U.K. The film, which is now considered a cult classic, starred Patrick Swayze, Wesley Snipes, John Leguizamo, Stockard Channing, Robin Williams and Ru Paul. The musical has a book and direction by original film screenplay writer Douglas Carter Beane, with music and lyrics by Lewis Flinn, casting by Sarah Leung and artwork by Feast Creative. Beginning in 1990s New York, the musical tells the story of three drag queens, Vida, Noxeema and Chichi, who embark on a trip across America to attend the drag queen of the year finals in Hollywood. When their car breaks down in Middle America, their lives, as well as those in the town, are turned upside down.

Neal Bledsoe In all my time as an actor, I’ve never experienced a more fraught environment than the one we are in now, and because I keep seeing canaries die in the coal mine, I’m a little curious about the air we’re breathing. The latest troubling indicator: a respected casting agency’s controversial offer to tape auditions for a fee. It all began with a small ad on Instagram in the days leading up to the Academy Awards in March. Betty Mae, the casting office behind “A Star Is Born” and “Euphoria,” would be renting out their vacant studio space — along with camera, lights, a reader and editing — for $130 an hour.​​  This was a no-brainer for Betty Mae: a way to monetize dormant casting suites that had lain vacant since the first days of the pandemic, while simultaneously helping actors navigate the new realities of getting seen. For some working actors however, it was the last straw. Everything that was now being sold to them used to be free.

Billy Corgan has openly praised Radiohead in a new interview, and hailed them as one of the first bands to harness a new way of making music in the 1990s.The Smashing Pumpkins frontman discussed the impact the band had on the decade in a recent interview with Zane Lowe for Apple Music 1, and shared the respect he developed for Thom Yorke and co in 1997 – the same year they released ‘OK Computer’.The topic arose when Corgan explained how some artists have “a certain type of affirmational faith” instilled into them, where they believe that if they follow a certain process, things will start to work out. It was here that the host agreed, and claimed that one person he sees as having that quality is Radiohead frontman Thom Yorke.Corgan agreed, and explained how he initially had “very little respect for the band”, however, came to appreciate Yorke once he became more experimental, and released the band’s iconic third album.“I want to praise him here.

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer For its first-ever upfronts presentation, Netflix took a page out of broadcast networks’ traditional playbook and boasted about not just what series it has launching in the coming months, or even through the end of the year, but specifically calling out its fall 2023 slate. A staple of upfronts week — though not as much lately, first because of the COVID-19 pandemic and now because of the writers strike — has been the unveiling of ABC, NBC, CBS and Fox’s fall lineups. This was done so advertisers knew what they were buying ads against and therefore what demos and audience size it would be most likely to reach by promoting products during those programs.

Michelle Yeoh is celebrating the power of embracing one’s roots.

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer Warner Bros. Discovery kicked off its 2023 upfront presentation in a no-frills way, with an overall brand sizzle and ad chief Jon Steinlauf giving a few remarks on stage at the Theater at Madison Square Garden Wednesday. While the presentation covering HBO, Max, CNN, Food Network, HGTV, Discovery and more Warner Bros. Discovery brands was shorter than last year’s show (which was the company’s first since the merger that created it last April) the tight 90-minute presentation still covered each of its key divisions. Albeit, with much less sizzle, with no stars in attendance amid the writers strike. “Let me just start by saying I am hopeful that a fair resolution is found soon with the writers,” HBO and Max chief Casey Bloys said, adding that he hopes for a return of talent to the stage, “making this a far more entertaining show” compared to “me and my clips.”

Karol G is getting real about her impact on the music industry and what this means for her Latin fans. The Colombian singer was featured on the new cover of W Magazine, where she opened up about some of the struggles she found at the beginning of her career. “In the Anglo market, you see a lot of girls doing their thing, like Ariana Grande, Rihanna, Nicki Minaj, and Cardi B,” She explained.

The Weeknd is speaking out against criticism surrounding his upcoming HBO Max series,, addressing creative shakeups and a lengthy report alleging that production had «gone wildly, disgustingly off the rails.»The 33-year-old pop star-turned-series creator opens up in a profile for 's new issue, on newsstands May 30, responding candidly to a March article claiming that behind-the-scenes turmoil on the set included chaotic scheduling, going over budget and last-minute script changes and overhauls on graphically violent and sexual scenes.By his estimation, The Weeknd — whose birth name is Abel Tesfaye — now says he interpreted the report's subtext as, «These are rapists trying to make a rape fantasy.»At the time the allegations were first published, Tesfayeresponded by sharing a clip from the show in which his character deems «irrelevant.» «I thought the article was ridiculous,» Tesfaye tells. «I wanted to give a ridiculous response to it.»Meanwhile, Tesfaye remains unapologetic about the source material for the show.

Sainsbury's is helping shoppers combat soaring food inflation by slashing the cost of some of its bread and butter items by up to 11 percent.

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer Nexstar reported its first-quarter 2023 earnings Tuesday, revealing its overall ad sales were down 6% year-over-year but its digital revenue increased by a record 16.5%, in part due to the inclusion of the CW Network in its offering. Wall Street forecast earnings per share (EPS) of $2.67 on $1.24 billion in revenue, according to analyst consensus data provided by Refinitiv. Nexstar reported diluted EPS of $2.97 on $1.26 billion in revenue. “Nexstar’s first quarter financial results once again outperformed consensus expectations across all key financial metrics including net revenue, Adjusted EBITDA and attributable free cash flow. All-time high quarterly distribution revenue and the benefit of The CW acquisition more than offset the cyclical year-over-year decline in political and Olympic advertising, resulting in record first quarter net revenues for the Company. We returned nearly 60% of first quarter attributable free cash flow to shareholders in the form of dividends and share repurchases.

Travel blog by Travels of Adam (Hipster Blog) – Travels of Adam (Hipster Blog) - Travel & Lifestyle Hipster Blog When you’re on a cruise ship, you’re most likely thinking about which fun activity you’ll do next. The last thing to cross your mind would be the potential for danger. However, maritime accidents can and do happen.

The Coronation of King Charles III is set to cost many millions of pounds – and the bill will largely be footed by UK taxpayers.

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav responded to the writers strike following the release of the company’s Q1 earnings report Friday, shooting down claims that some companies are “glad” that the the Writers Guild of America (WGA) is picketing instead of writing. “We’re not glad,” Zaslav said during an interview on CNBC’s “Squawk Box” on Day 4 of the writers strike. “In order to create great storytelling, we need great writers, and we need the whole industry to work together,” the WBD chief said. “And everybody deserves to be paid fairly. So our number one focus is, let’s try and get this resolved. Let’s do it in a way that that the writers feel that they’re valued, which they are, and they’re compensated fairly. And then off we go. Let’s tell great stories together.”

spread former President Donald Trump’s lies about the 2020 election and participated in his illegitimate effort to stay in power after he lost to President Joe Biden. The group promotes false Christian nationalist history.FRC is intensely opposed to legal abortion and legal equality for LGBTQ people and portrays LGBTQ equality as a dire threat to religious liberty.At its 2021 Pray Vote Stand conference, George Barna told religious-right activists that it is parents’ responsibility to shape their children’s worldview.

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer Paramount Global CEO Bob Bakish addressed the writers strike during Paramount’s Q1 earnings call Thursday, stating that writers are “an essential part of creating content” and “we hope we can come to a resolution that works for everyone fairly quickly.” However, the Paramount chief added, “it’s also fair to say there’s a really big gap.” “Obviously, we’ve been planning for this, we do have many levers to pull and that’ll allow us to manage through the strike, even if it’s for an extended duration,” Bakish said. “In terms of those levers, we have a lot in the can, so to speak, content in the can. So with the exception of things like late-night, consumers really won’t notice anything for a while. Add to that a broad range of reality, unscripted, where we’re definitely a leader, as well as sports, and that’s not effected, so we can do more in those areas, if necessary.”

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer The new regime at Peacock has spent the past nine months preparing to take its baby bird to new heights. The number of big moves made by the NBCUniversal-owned streamer — from amping up its original content slate to livestream deals with Hallmark, Reelz and Big 10 college football to bringing NBC shows back into the fold for next-day viewing and eliminating its free tier for new users — is setting the stage for what executives hope will be a growth spurt in 2023. Peacock, which launched three years ago last month, will show of its brighter plumage Tuesday with its New Fronts presentation to advertisers. “It’s all coming together,” says Peacock president Kelly Campbell, who signed on in October 2021 after serving as president of Hulu. “We’re just seeing an increasing interest overall when it comes to inflow and engagement, and people are stickier than they were in the past.”

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer With half a day to go until the clock strikes midnight on WGA talks, Hollywood is trying to operate as if it were any other day in town, despite the fact TV and film writers could be on strike Tuesday if the negotiations don’t go their way. While high and low-budget shows alike shoot in Los Angeles, New York City, Georgia and across the pond Monday, everyone from writers on sets to executives in office buildings knows Tuesday might bring a situation they haven’t dealt with since 2007. “As expected, it is eerily quiet — it is overcast in LA and that matches the mood of the town,” one comms exec said. “Lots of discussion about what news to announce and how news will play with both sides of the table, so to speak. Definitely feels like the calm before the storm.”

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer Amazon is bringing more than 100 of its Prime Video originals to Freevee, the company’s ad-supported platform that’s home to new hit “Jury Duty,” this year. The deal marks the first time these titles will be available to view for free and with commercial breaks. Among the slate of hit Prime Video shows and movies that will begin streaming on Freevee (while still remaining available for ad-free viewing on Prime Video) are “Reacher,” “The Summer I Turned Pretty,” “The Wheel of Time,” “A League of Their Own” and “LuLaRich.” As of Monday, more than 50 of these originals are now available for streaming on Freevee, including “Lizzo’s Watch Out for the Big Grrrls,” “The Grand Tour,” “Mozart in the Jungle,” “Bosch,” “Modern Love,” “Savage X Fenty,” “Sylvie’s Love,” “Troop Zero” and “Late Night.”

It’s never too late! Keesha Sharp believes in finding happiness at any age — which is why her new film Spring Breakthrough felt like the perfect fit.