Fifth Season Lays Off 30 Staffers, Citing ‘Impact on Business Operations’ During Hollywood Strikes

Brent Lang Executive Editor Before cameras ever start rolling on a RadicalMedia movie, staffers are already busy strategizing about where it should eventually premiere. The company, which boasts “The Fog of War” and “Summer of Soul” among its many credits, routinely consults an exhaustive chart that lays out the deadlines to submit a movie to major festivals like Cannes, Sundance and Toronto.

Roku is laying off around 10% of staff as it “performs a strategic review of [its] content portfolio.”

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Roku will cut more than 300 staffers — laying off 10% of its workforce — as the streaming-platform company continues its battle to control costs. In addition, Roku will remove certain licensed and owned content from its platform as part of a “strategic review of its content portfolio,” resulting in an impairment charge of up to $65 million in the current quarter, the company disclosed in an SEC filing Wednesday. Other cost-cutting measures Roku outlined are consolidating office space and reducing outside services expenses.

Maya Hawke in sex scenes.The pair have collaborated together on the upcoming Flannery O’Connor biopic Wildcat, where Maya plays the late author as well as six other characters from O’Connor’s short stories.Two of these short stories feature sex scenes, where Maya stars opposite Cooper Hoffman and Rafael Casal. Despite the potential for awkwardness with her father Ethan directing the project, the pair insisted they were “so comfortable” when it came to tackling those scenes.“We needed to take care of Rafael and Cooper,” Ethan said with a laugh to Variety. “I think it was weird for them.

Oscar-winning All Quiet On The Western Front director Edward Berger told a Venice masterclass on Sunday that he hoped the Hollywood strikes would be resolved soon for the sake of everyone working in the production business.

David Fincher is in town today for the world premiere of The Killer starring Michael Fassbender as an assassin who battles his employers, and himself, on an international manhunt while insisting none of it is personal.

Christopher Vourlias The question of whether Hollywood stars will light up the Lido this week has roiled the film industry in the run-up to the Venice Film Festival. “Poor Things” lead actress Emma Stone was among the marquee names that were holding out for a SAG-AFTRA exemption allowing her to promote the Frankenstein-inspired period film from Oscar nominee Yorgos Lanthimos (“The Favourite”), which bowed in competition Friday to a lengthy standing ovation and rave reviews.

Zack Sharf Digital News Director SPOILER ALERT: This post discusses plot developments from “The Last Of Us Part II” video game, which will presumably serve as inspiration for Season 2 of the HBO adaptation. “The Last of Us” creator and co-showrunner Neil Druckmann confirmed to Entertainment Weekly that Season 2 of the Emmy-nominated HBO series is all outlined and ready to go as soon as the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes come to an end. He’s currently making the press rounds touting the new “Last of Us” attraction at Universal Studios’ Halloween Horror Nights. “We’ve outlined all of Season 2 and we’re ready to go as soon as the strike ends,” Druckmann said.

Italian producer and Lido habitué Mario Gianani is at the Venice Film Festival this year with Saverio Costanzo’s drama Finally Dawn which world premieres in Competition on Friday.

Jimmy Kimmel found help in one of Hollywood’s strongest duos: Ben Affleck and Matt Damon.

Ellise Shafer Venice Film Festival international jury president Damien Chazelle showed support for the ongoing strikes in Hollywood at the event’s first press conference, sporting a “Writers Guild on Strike” shirt and pin. During the jury press conference — which also included artistic director Alberto Barbera, La Biennale president Roberto Cicutto, Orizzonti president Jonas Carpignano and Luigi De Laurentiis president Alice Diop — Chazelle made a powerful statement about the current state of Hollywood, touting “art over content.” “Today is the 121st day that the writers in Hollywood have been on strike; the 48th day that the actors have been on strike,” Chazelle began.

. The film, originally slated to release Nov. 3, will now be delayed until March 15, 2024.

Fifth Season, the company formerly known as Endeavor Content, is cutting around 12% of its workforce as a result of the impact of the dual Hollywood strikes.

To the relief of many in the embattled pay-TV business, which faces its most uncertain fall season in decades along with existential angst due to cord-cutting, a reliable viewer draw is about to return. College football season kicks off on Saturday, with a slate of seven televised games starting with Notre Dame’s opener against Navy.

FX’s fifth season of multi-award winning series, Fargo, is returning on Tuesday, Nov. 21 at 10 p.m. ET/PT. The network today also unveiled first look images from the new season and revealed more details on the plot of the Noah Hawley-created TV series spawned from the Oscar winning 1996 Coen Brothers movie.

Joe Otterson TV Reporter Creative Artists Agency will bring down a small round of layoffs in the coming days, Variety has learned. The top talent firm, home to representatives for the likes of Scarlett Johansson and Tom Cruise, will axe around 60 jobs across multiple departments, insiders familiar with the agency said.

Motion Picture Sound Editors is waiving dues payments for its members for the current year “in consideration of the ongoing strikes” by SAG-AFTRA and the Writers Guild. The waiver was approved unanimously by the organization’s board.

The show must go on! On Thursday, Fox announced the 75th annual Emmy Awards will air Monday, Jan. 15, 2024, after previously being postponed due to the ongoing SAG-AFTRA and WGA strikes. According to the press release, the Emmys will not be live and will instead be filmed over two consecutive nights — Saturday, Jan.

The 75th Primetime Emmy Awards will take place on Monday, Jan. 15, 2024, Martin Luther King Jr. Day. The joint announcement was made by Fox, whose turn is to carry the ceremony this year, and the TV Academy.

Clayton Davis Senior Awards Editor Latinos were optimistic about making a great stride in representation in the summer box office season with films like “Blue Beetle,” the first superhero movie directed and written by and starring Latinos. However, writers and actors aren’t able to promote their projects during the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes, as guild members advocate for new contracts.