Festival In Focus: Series Mania Forum Looks To The Future

If Goody invites you to Miami, you go. In February, the haircare brand — loved by Ashley Graham, Bella Hadid and more — invited a group of beauty editors, including myself, to celebrate the launch of their newest collection that aims to honor the “artist in everyone.” 

Tattoo culture has been essential to style and self-expression in the NBA for over a decade. The new Tidal League series “Sessions” gives a behind-the-scenes look at NBA players and the tattoos they get.

TMZ reported on the sad news, claiming the model "appeared to have jumped from a balcony", with police still investigating the incident. Their report read: "Our sources say the autopsy has been completed, but officials haven't yet officially ruled on the cause of death. "Jeff was a well-established model, boasting over 120,000 followers on Instagram and was repped by KLondon's AMCK models.

EXCLUSIVE: WithMayans M.C. coming to an end, star Danny Pino has lined up his next series role — the lead in Hotel Cocaine, MGM+’s upcoming crime thriller from creator Chris Brancato (Narcos).

Anna Marie de la Fuente Israel’s Yaron Shani, best known for his feature debut “Ajami,” nominated for the Best International Feature Oscar in 2010, is presenting his debut television series, “Innermost,” at Series Mania. Variety is unveiling an exclusive first look at the series, which world premieres March 20 at the prominent television event unspooling in Lille, France over March 17-24. The six-episode limited series, world premiering in Series Mania’s International Panorama section, follows three characters whose lives intersect. Among them is a police officer, played by Eran Naim, a former cop himself, who first appeared in “Ajami.” The second is an upcoming writer who struggles to recover from a traumatic experience, while the third is a young aspiring musician who chafes against his parents’ wish to do his duty and join the military service, mandatory in Israel.

Sean “Diddy” Combs has just joined the potential purchase party of Black Entertainment Television (BET), with the mogul setting his sights on majority stake, TheWrap has confirmed.A source close to Combs says the Grammy award-winning musician and record label executive  is “exploring the opportunity to purchase BET as a part of his strategy to build a Black-owned global media powerhouse,” Variety was the first to report. The source added that conversations around Diddy buying majority stake in the network has yet to happen. Diddy is the latest to take interest in the acquisitions of the network, following behind Tyler Perry, Byron Allen and Miami-based media company Group Black, which was founded by Richelieu Dennis, Bonin Bough, and its CEO Travis Montaque. Under the umbrella of BET Media Group lies brands BET, BET+, BET Studios and VH1, which was to the group from Paramount Media Networks in a restructuring rearrangement. This would be another lucrative entrepreneurial business move for Diddy, who founded media company Revolt in 2013.

Ivanka Trump looked comfortable and stylish as she stepped out in Miami alongside her eldest son. Ivanka was photographed wearing a maroon-colored sports outfit as she accompanied her son for some ice cream.Ivanka Trump remembers her late mother on her birthday: “I miss the joy she brought into our lives”Ivanka Trump steps out in a blue drapey dress in MiamiThe photos show Ivanka and Joseph walking in the city with her son, as he ate some italian ice cream. While Ivanka wore a sports outfit made out of leggings, a top and a windbreaker, Joseph appeared to be leaving school, wearing a chemise shirt and some khaki shorts.

Marta Balaga As proven by a slew of new shows in development, series creators from Finland keep on experimenting. “People are exploring some bold, risky topics. Ones that make you go: ‘Wow, they are really making a show about that?’,” says Laura Kuulasmaa, executive director from the producers’ association APFI. Aamu Film Company’s “Monster,” about a teenage Nicke, realizing he is in love with his girlfriend’s 11-year-old sister, is bound to ignite discussions.  “I wanted to do this show because I believe that raising awareness of minor-attracted persons can save children from abuse,” creator Eva-Maria Koskinen tells Variety.  

John Hopewell Chief International Correspondent Series Mania, Europe’s biggest TV fest, and German film-TV powerhouse Beta Group has revealed the 10 projects in the first edition of Seriesmakers, unveiling what must be one of the most talent-packed project lineups at any festival, film or TV, in 2023, A mentoring program for filmmakers making their TV creator debut, Series Mania features in development drama series from “Compartment No 6’s” Juho Kuosmanen, ‘Bang Gang’s’ Eva Husson and “Birds of a Passage’s” Ciro Guerra and Cristina Gallego. Also in the mix is “Amigas,” the first TV project of Beatriz Seigner (“Los Silencios”), one of Brazil’s foremost young movie directors, “The Invisible Ink,” teaming Cannes best first feature winner César Díaz (“Our Mothers”)and New Uruguay Cinema founding father Fernando Epstein; and Indian arthouse filmmaker Pushpendra Singh, who scored with Berlin Encounters’ title “The Shepherdess and the Seven Songs.”

EXCLUSIVE: Paramount+ is developing Vice City (working title), a new original series from Lionsgate Television, Paramount Television Studios, and Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson‘s G-Unit Film & Television, Deadline has learned.

From feud to friendship! Kristen Doute and Ariana Madix smoothed over their bumpy past after years of bad blood on Bravo.

Ivanka Trump was spotted in Miami, wearing a blue dress and some sunglasses. The pictures were released a couple of weeks after she was subpoenaed in the January 6th Capitol riots investigation. Ivanka Trump remembers her late mother on her birthday: “I miss the joy she brought into our lives”Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner celebrated Valentine’s Day with a beachside picnic alongside their three childrenIvanka’s dress was blue and white, made up of some puffy sleeves and a tighter fit alongside the mid-part of her body.

Anna Marie de la Fuente Miami Dade College’s Miami Film Festival marks its 40th edition, running March 3-12, with a full-blown return to the in-person festival experience with a sidebar of only 10 titles available online.  “We’re celebrating the human connection and getting back into cinemas again,” says programming head Lauren Cohen who in her first year flying solo at the helm, is putting her personal stamp on the festival with female-centric topics dominating the Master Classes.  “It’s our 40th anniversary, which is such a milestone for us, we want it to be bigger and better than ever,” she continues. 

Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sanchez were spotted looking relaxed as they returned from their vacation in the Caribbean. The couple was photographed as they held hands and walked out of their private plane in Miami. Lauren Sánchez dedicates sweet Valentine’s Day post to Jeff BezosLauren Sanchez shows off her lacy dress in a new videoSanchez was wearing a white crop top with comfortable looking pants that had on a floral black and white print on them.

Think of Miami in Florida and you conjure up long stretches of sand and the Art Deco backdrop of Ocean drive. But whisk yourself over the 2.8-mile long MacArthur bridge and you enter downtown Miami. With soaring skyscrapers, stylish hotels, rooftop pools and impeccable dining options, it’s glamorous and cosmopolitan, offering a hip, urban vibe in contrast to the sun-scorched streets of Miami Beach.Temperatures hit 25°C from November to March before the mercury soars to more sweltering levels, making the city – recently dubbed US capital of cool by Time magazine – a good option for a late spring break.

Poker Face has proven to be a major hit for NBC’s Peacock, with the murder mystery series already renewed for a second season on the streaming service.Created by Rian Johnson, the series stars Natasha Lyonne as Charlie Cale, a casino worker on the run who entangles herself into the mysterious deaths of strangers along the way.A synopsis reads: “Charlie has an extraordinary ability to determine when someone is lying. She hits the road with her Plymouth Barracuda and with every stop encounters a new cast of characters and strange crimes she can’t help but investigate and solve.”Alongside Lyonne, the cast of the first season also includes Benjamin Bratt, Ron Perlman, and Adrian Brody, along with a host of guest stars.While the series sees its protagonist travel to a different location in each episode, filming was primarily based Newburgh, New York, running from April through October, 2022, in locations throughout the mid-Hudson Valley.At least one episode of the series was filmed in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Premio Lo Nuestro 2023 took place last night. Hundreds of celebrities, including singers, actors, influencers, journalists, and more, walked the red carpet of the 35th edition of the awards.

‘The Woman King’ & ‘Aftersun’ Dominate Girls On Film AwardsThe Woman King and Aftersun dominated the main awards at the second annual Girls On Film Awards. The Woman King picked up Best Ensemble, sponsored by Netflix, and Best Female Friendship On Screen. Woman King star Viola Davis was also awarded the Feminist Superhero award. Woman King lead Sheila Atim was there in person to accept the awards. Aftersun nabbed Best Feature Film Sponsored by EON Productions, while the film’s publicity team also won Best Publicity Campaign. Other big winners included Sebastián Lelio’s The Wonder, which took home Best Cinematography and the Sinéad O’Connor pic Nothing Compares (Best Documentary). Nominees for the awards were chosen by a selection of critics and journalists. Girls On Film was launched by Deadline critic and broadcaster Anna Smith and producer Hedda Archbold with the aim of rewarding excellence in the field of feminism, inclusion, and diversity in cinema. Check out the full winners on the Girl On Film Twitter account.

John Hopewell Chief International Correspondent Casey Bloys, chairman and CEO, HBO and HBO Max Content will deliver a keynote at Series Mania’s Lille Dialogues whose one-day summit looks set to take the pulse on a global content industry as content investment flattens and ask how to build a more responsible industry in the future. Marking an early opportunity to hear from streaming platforms after both Warner Bros. Discovery and Disney have announced multi-billion dollar cuts in content investment, the Lille Dialogues also count on a keynote from James Farrell, head of local originals, Prime Video. Further keynotes will be delivered by top execs at France’s biggest free-to-air service, TF1, as well as its energetic public broadcaster France Télévisions and Europe’s biggest pay TV operator, Sky. Jan Mojto, CEO, Beta Film, can be expected to deliver a wide-angled vision of how stories made in Europe can find a market worldwide.

When Laurence Herszberg first launched Series Mania back in 2010 in Paris, the former Forum des Images director was keen to apply her deep knowledge of film and the film festival model to the television sector. At the time, says the French exec, no one was doing any kind of TV festival “solely dedicated to series.”