Former Luxbox Co-Head Hédi Zardi Talks First Year As Head Of Marrakech’s Atlas Workshops, MENA’s Embrace Of Genre & Introducing Equity Finance

Dynamo left Lorraine Kelly worried after revealing the details of his most dangerous stunt yet. The magician is burying himself alive tonight (Thursday December 14) as part of the Sky programme Dynamo Is Dead.

Jeffrey Wright and Taraji P. Henson sit down to discuss their acclaimed performances — as cantankerous novelist Thelonious “Monk” Ellison in “American Fiction” and sensuous singer Shug Avery in “The Color Purple” — Wright is eager to address one topic first: their shared hometown. It turns out both acting titans hail from Washington, D.C.

Casualty fans have been left in shock by a trailer for the new series which appears to tease a blood-soaked end for long-serving character Charlie Fairhead. Charlie, played by Derek Thompson, has starred in the BBC medical drama for nearly 40 years and is the only remaining original character from the first episode, broadcast in September 1986.

EXCLUSIVE: The Artists Equity movie Unstoppable remains exactly that: After the production was shut down during the WGA strike, the William Goldenberg directed, Jennifer Lopez and Jharrel Jerome starring sports movie will return to shooting on Dec. 12 with Don Cheadle, Michael Peña and Bobby Cannavale joining the cast.

EXCLUSIVE: Former Lionsgate UK & Europe chief and Marv Studios Group CEO Zygi Kamasa launched film and TV company True Brit Entertainment last month with backing from talent management and entertainment company Three Six Zero, which reps talent including Calvin Harris, Frank Ocean, FKA Twigs, Will Smith, Marcus Rashford and Kid Cudi. The company will focus exclusively on British feature films and TV.

Can there be any lingering doubt about who truly holds the Queen of Christmas crown? Brenda Lee has returned to the top spot of the Billboard Hot 100 chart with “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree,” 65 years after the song’s 1958 recording.

EXCLUSIVE: Hatch said Monday that it has hired former SiriusXM podcast executive Natalie Mooallem as VP Content, part of a push into original programming at the sleep-wellness app company. She becomes the latest hire from the entertainment industry as Hatch ramps up its content offerings; most recently, former Netflix executive Eric Pallotta joined as chief marketing officer.  

Moroccan filmmaker Asmae El Moudir has made history at the 20th edition of Morocco’s Marrakech Film Festival as the first local director to win its top prize with her hybrid documentary The Mother Of All Lies.

Jon Burlingame Laura Karpman is one of very few composers who has made a genuine difference in the scoring community. A five-time Emmy winner, she co-founded the Alliance for Women Film Composers, which is widely credited with helping to propel the nearly invisible community of female music writers into prominence. No one asks “why aren’t there any women film composers?” anymore.

EXCLUSIVE: Married actors Lena Headey (Game of Thrones) and Mark Menchaca (Ozark) have been set to star in Long Pork, a revenge thriller short helmed by up-and-comer Iris Dukatt, who also wrote the screenplay.

The Marrakech Film Festival celebrated its 20th edition this year, arriving at the landmark some 22 years after its 2001 launch due to the missed years of the pandemic.

Michelle Williams hasn’t been up to much since “The Fabelmans” last year, but that’s about to change. Deadline reports that the actress will star in and produce “Dying For Sex,” an upcoming limited series for FX.

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer Disney‘s board named Morgan Stanley CEO James Gorman and former Sky chief Jeremy Darroch as new directors Wednesday. Additionally, Disney has announced that board member Francis A. deSouza, former president and CEO of Illumina, will not stand for reelection at the company’s upcoming annual meeting, “as he pursues new opportunities in the technology sector that will require his full attention.” The news comes one day after Disney held a company-wide town hall featuring CEO Bob Iger and his top lieutenants discussing the state of the business.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Melita Toscan du Plantier has been the driving force behind the Marrakech Film Festival ever since her late husband, revered French producer Daniel Toscan du Plantier, wrote to Morocco’s king two decades ago expressing “his ambition for a big international festival in Morocco,” as she recounts. The festival’s 20th edition is currently underway in the ancient Moroccan city, despite the Israel-Hamas conflict that has caused cancellations of several other fests in the region as well as the earthquake that hit the country in September.

Matt Bomer and Jonathan Bailey have revealed how their first IRL meeting went down.

For many families, Christmas is an exciting, fun-filled time marked by colourful decorations, a delicious dinner and the constant chatter of friends and family. For hundreds of thousands of people living with dementia though, the festive season can be challenging at best and, at worst, terrifying and confusing. One in three people born in the UK today will go on to develop dementia in their lifetime, and like so many health conditions it is indiscriminate.

Ben Croll Now entering its sixth edition, the Marrakech Film Festival’s industry-focused Atlas Workshops can expect its busiest year to date. Showcasing rising talents from the MENA world, the production spotlight will welcome more than 200 industry delegates — among them 15 sales companies — and will co-ordinate 460 professional meetings as part of its co-production market. And though artistic patron Martin Scorsese had to cancel his trip at the last minute, this year’s workshop will still see a wider U.S.

Ben Croll Martin Scorsese will no longer attend nor participate in the Marrakech Film Festival’s Atlas Workshops, citing personal reasons. The award-winning filmmaker was slated to serve as artistic godfather for Marrakech’s industry arm, which spotlights development titles and works-in-progress from dynamic new talents from across the MENA world.

Martin Scorsese has cancelled his trip to the Marrakech International Film Festival at the eleventh hour, which he was due to attend as the special honorary guest of its 20th edition.

Martin Scorsese has cancelled his trip to the Marrakech International Film Festival at the eleventh hour, which he was due to attend as the special honorary guest of its 20th edition.