Former UTA Agent & Army Officer Jev Valles Joins 42 As Manager In LA Office

Elon Musk’s reluctant $44BN Twitter buyout and Warner Bros’ merger with Discovery were the most market-shifting M&A deals of the year but outside the U.S. there were several major developments that have impacted the global market.

While theaters are still recovering from the pandemic directly impacting attendance and box office outcomes, there are still really great movies struggling to find audiences outside of streaming and VOD options when they are released in theaters. Some smaller to mid-range pictures, mainly horror, have done better than expected in the shadow of the $100-200 million-dollar budgeted blockbusters that seemingly come out round-year now.

Indonesian movies had racked up close to 55 million admissions in their home market as of December 18, according to local box office analyst Bicara Box Office, overtaking the previous record of 51.9 million admissions set in the pre-pandemic year of 2019. 

Netflix will pay $55 million for a big parcel of land in New Jersey, then invest $850 million to build a state-of-the-art production studio, according to details of the streamer’s bid.

Say yes to the dress! Former Bachelorette Andi Dorfman had a blast while trying on wedding gowns for her upcoming nuptials to fiancé Blaine Hart — but that doesn’t mean the shopping experience wasn’t exhausting. 

EXCLUSIVE: Fangoria Studios has hired Amir Moini as its first Chief Marketing Officer.

EXCLUSIVE: UTA has signed Nkechi Okoro Carroll and her production company, Rock My Soul Productions, for representation in all areas.

British film industry veteran Sir Sydney Samuelson has died. He was 97.

EXCLUSIVE: UTA has signed actress and filmmaker Katie Holmes and her recently launched production company, Lafayette Pictures, for representation in all areas. 

EXCLUSIVE: Up-and-coming actress Lisette Olivera (National Treasure: Edge of History) has signed with UTA for representation in all areas.

EXCLUSIVE: UTA has signed South Korean filmmaker Na Hong-Jin in all areas, as well as his production company, Forged Films.

EXCLUSIVE: UTA has signed stand-up comedian, host and actor Karlous Miller for representation in all areas. 

Over the course of 144 minutes, Philip Yung’s true-crime drama Where the Wind Blows covers an awful lot of ground. An epic in the style Sergio Leone’s Once Upon A Time in New York, it pairs Asian superstars Tony Leung and Aaron Kwok in a story spanning several decades of police corruption in Hong Kong during its time as a British colony. The detail is sometimes dense, but the tone turns playful and refreshingly light at times, and there’s even a memorable musical routine for “The God of Dance” Kwok.

Like mother, like daughter! Christina Hall‘s (née Haack) daughter, Taylor, made a cameo in the first clip from her mom’s new show, Christina in the Country.