Related: Jean-Luc Godard: ‘Film is over. What to do?’ Born in Paris in 1930, Godard grew up and went to school in Nyon, on the banks of Lake Geneva in Switzerland.
26.08.2022 - 00:31 / variety.com
Shirley Halperin Executive Editor, Music French Montana’s 2017 hit, “Unforgettable,” featuring Swae Lee, has achieved the rare diamond certification from the RIAA, marking equivalent sales of 10 million units. To celebrate, the artist hosted friends and associates at his home on Wednesday night for an intimate dinner and plaque presentation. Among those in attendance was Epic Records chair and CEO Sylvia Rhone, XO Records co-founder and CEO Sal Slaiby, SALXCO VP of A&R Rahsaan “Shake” Phelps and producer C.P Dubb. The song was a smash across formats, and has over 1.4 billion YouTube views for its official video, which featured Ugandan youth dance troupe Triplets Ghetto Kids. “Most of the them live in the States now,” Montana noted.
Indeed, many of the fond memories associated with the song’s release — shared by Slaiby and Rhone along with FYI Brand founder Tammy Brook — related to the video, which was filmed in Uganda and spurred the #UnforgettableDanceChallenge. In addition, Global Citizen helped facilitate a visit by French to rural health clinic Suubi Health Centre. It was an early example of pairing a social message with a single release, as Brook noted, raising over $500,000. “It was an amazing experience to be a part of,” said Rhone of “Unforgettable.” “This doesn’t happen every day. This only happens when you have a special song. It’s a big achievement.” “He had the vision for this record from even the demo,” added Slaiby. French noted that the diamond plaque is also a big win for Morocco, the country where he was born and raised, and for the Bronx, where he lived from age 13 on. “Unforgettable” was the lead single from “Jungle Rules,” released by Epic Records/Bad Boy Entertainment in July 2017. Most recently,
Related: Jean-Luc Godard: ‘Film is over. What to do?’ Born in Paris in 1930, Godard grew up and went to school in Nyon, on the banks of Lake Geneva in Switzerland.
Trinidad Barleycorn The setting: a small resort, Les Cimes, in the Swiss Alps, a stone’s throw from the French border. The moment: the end of ski season, tourists have left, time seems to be suspended. The plot: a corpse is found, tied up, with an edelweiss in its mouth. The protagonist: Captain Sterenn Peiry (Marina Hands) leads the investigation. She still mourns her 15-year-old daughter, killed three years before in an avalanche. So much for the beginning of “Off Season” (Hors saison), a Franco-Swiss police series, produced by Akka Films, Gaumont Television with RTS and France Télévisions, and beautifully filmed in CinémaScope by Pierre Monnard. This thrilling six-part series, presented to buyers at the French TV market Unifrance Rendez-Vous in Biarritz, is best in class in the art of constantly misleading the viewer. From the very first minutes, the plot thickens: a second corpse, found in the same gloomy setting, but on the French side, makes the shadow of a serial killer lurk on Les Cimes and brings into the game French policeman Lyes Bouaouni (the excellent Sofiane Zermani, a.k.a. the rapper Fianso). When a third layer is added: Sterenn’s son kills his girlfriend and flees the scene. We are left wondering: how far can a mother go to save her only child?
Ben Croll French filmmakers and sales agents will hit Toronto looking for a sale, great buzz and, above all, a lasting foothold into the U.S. market. Because a welcome perch across the pond can make all the difference, especially given the recent crunch on the international scene. “Today, the market is extremely polarized,” says Alice Lesort, who heads sales for Les Films du Losange. “There are still films that perform extremely well abroad, but the number of films has shrunk; there are still films that take the spotlight, but the spotlight now focuses on fewer of them.” Bringing the Léa Seydoux-led “One Fine Morning” to Toronto after previous berths in Cannes and Telluride and an upcoming slot in New York, director Mia Hansen-Løve has proven an outlier several times over. For one thing, at only 41-years-old, she’s already made eight features; for another, all but one of those features has seen U.S. distribution.
When it comes to selecting their collaborators, Clean Bandit have always been one step ahead. Knowing exactly who'll complement their unique brand of EDM-classical crossover, members Grace Chatto, Jack and Luke Patterson certainly boast one of the UK dance scene's most successful CVs.
Ed Meza @edmezavar France TV Distribution is ratcheting up global sales for the hit Gallic crime series “Bright Minds,” with deals ranging from Japan to the U.S., Canada and Latin America. In its third season, the show, which airs on France 2, follows a police detective who finds a brilliant partner in a young autistic woman with encyclopedic knowledge of criminal investigations who works in the police records bureau. Together, they realize their complementary skills are the key to solving cases. France TV Distribution, which is presenting its current lineup this week at the Unifrance Rendez-Vous market in Biarritz, sold the show to Japanese public broadcaster NHK, which has been airing it since July.
Protagonist Pictures has closed a French distribution deal with Les Films du Losange on Riley Keough and Gina Gammell’s Cannes Camera d’Or winning directorial debut War Pony.
International spending on French TV rocketed by 38.8% last year to €678M, with a huge increase in studios taking advantage of the nation’s tax rebate, according to Unifrance’s annual French TV Export report delivered at the body’s Biarritz Rendez-Vous this afternoon.
French broadcaster TF1 and pay-TV giant Canal+ are locked in a fresh dispute over carriage fees related to the latter’s distribution of TF1’s free digital terrestrial television (DTT) channels.
Lea Seydoux has teased that she could return for the next James Bond film. The 37-year-old actress has played Dr. Madeleine Swann in 'Spectre' and 'No Time To Die' and suggested that she could be back for the next installment after Bond's death and Daniel Craig's exit from the role at the end of the last movie.
French Montana was inspired to launch an addiction help service after Mac Miller's death. The rapper passed away in 2018 aged 26 after suffering an accidental drug overdose while French himself battled his own addiction issues over the years before getting sober in 2019 - and he's now revealed the loss of his pal pushed him towards creating a partnership with Guardian Recovery Services and NAQI Healthcare to provides a medically supervised in-home detox program for addicts. Speaking on the 'PEOPLE Every Day' podcast, he explained: "It (Miller's death) touched me because I'm in that space and I consider these artists as my brothers and my family.
Sir Elton John and David Furnish have been making the most of the last days of summer with their sons, Zachary and Elijah.MORE: Elton John posts moving tribute to Princess Diana on 25th anniversary of her passingThe family spent last week in the south of France onboard a yacht with famous friends, including David Walliams. But now it's back to work for the couple – and back to school for their boys.
Variety Staff Follow Us on Twitter After introducing the project at MipTV earlier this year, distributor Newen Connect is bringing its crime thriller series “Syndrome E” to the Unifrance Rendez-Vous, the international sales event for French shows in Biarritz, South-West France, which runs Sept. 4-8. “Syndrome E” is the first TV series adapted from the work of international best-selling thriller writer and screenwriter Franck Thilliez. The French author was the fourth most read writer in France in 2020, with more than 7 million books sold in France and translated in more than 20 countries. “Syndrome E” is the first TV series adapted from international best-selling thriller writer and screenwriter Franck Thilliez. The French author was the fourth most read writer in France in 2020, with more than 7 million books sold in France and translated in more than 20 countries.
Ed Meza @edmezavar The French TV industry’s Rendez-Vous market is again taking place in the picturesque seaside town of Biarritz, bowing Sept. 4 with a showcase of this year’s top TV content after being forced online the past two years due to the pandemic. This year also marks the event’s relaunch under the Unifrance banner following the merger last year of the film and TV promotional organization and TV France International, the Rendez-Vous’ previous organizer. With more and more directors and actors moving increasingly from film to television, Unifrance’s new role is a natural evolution that reflects that development, said Unifrance vice president Hervé Michel.
Ed Meza @edmezavar U.S. streaming service Topic is expanding its roster of French content with such recent acquisitions as the Arte fantasy-thriller miniseries “The Rope,” picked up from Wild Bunch TV, and Season 2 of political satire “Parliament,” sold internationally by France TV Distribution. Launched by First Look Media in 2019, Topic specializes in crime and thrillers, including top Nordic shows like “The Killing,” “The Bridge,” “Arctic Circle” and “The Bridge”-inspired German thriller “Pagan Peak.” Jennifer Liang, Topic’s vice president of programming strategy, acquisitions and sales, is attending this year’s Unifrance Rendez-Vous TV programming market in Biarritz for the first time and on the lookout for titles that fit the niche streamer’s high standards.
Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Iconoclast, the international production group behind Romain Gavras’ Venice competition film “Athena,” is setting a wide-ranging slate of projects with emerging filmmakers from different audiovisual fields, including Leo Berne from the artists collective Megaforce, and Elias Belkeddar and Said Belktibia from the collective Kourtrajmé. The company is also producing the next projects of Harmony Korine and Laure de Clermont-Tonnerre, among others. In a rare interview, Nicolas Lhermitte, who co-founded Iconoclast with Mourad Belkeddar, says the company has emerged from the pandemic with a record number of developed projects. “We took the opportunity during the pandemic to develop a lot of projects, and today we have around 30 projects in the pipeline, spanning films and series that are set up at our studios in France, the U.S. and Germany,” says Lhermitte, who adds that Iconoclast aspired to “accompany multi-disciplinary artists to venture from one field to another, films, TV series, branded content, and music videos.”
David Furnish and Elton John are currently enjoying the last days of summer on board a yacht in the South of France, and whilst they have been joined by several friends, such as Elizabeth Hurley and David Walliams – their sons, Zachary and Elijah, have also joined in on the fun.MORE: Elton John and Britney Spears shock fans with Tiny Dancer coverTaking to Instagram on Wednesday, David shared an incredibly rare photo of them, and it showed Zachary and Elijah being incredibly brave and jumping off the yacht onto the sea.WATCH: Elton John's sons ski like pros in unbelievable videoThe three of them can be seen with their hands up in the air whilst one of his boys is already mid-air. The family will have been counting down the days to their holiday together after a difficult year for Elton, which saw him take a break from his Farewell Yellow Brick Road Tour amid health issues, including a fall that required surgery, and catching Covid in January.RELATED: Elizabeth Hurley stuns in pink low-cut swimsuit as she relaxes on board a yachtREAD: Elton John makes fans tearful after sharing big news – 'I'm so excited'Since then, however, Elton has revealed that he is in "top health" and a picture shared by the singer on his Twitter shows him looking better than ever, kitted out head to toe in Gucci.
Kathie Lee Gifford became one of the most recognizable and beloved faces on daytime television.MORE: Kathie Lee Gifford pays poignant tribute to late friend and co-star Regis PhilbinHowever, while she may have gotten used to being on screen almost every day of her life, and it was a career she surely loved, she has no regrets about retiring from her hosting gigs.In a new interview with People Magazine, the star opened up about her life away from the spotlight, moving to Nashville, and why she loves it all so much.WATCH: Kathie shares glimpse inside lavish Tennessee homeMORE: Kathie Lee Gifford delights fans with epic return to Today ShowShe has called Nashville home for three years now, and revealed of her decision: "For the first time after longing to be back in California for 45 years or whatever it was, I just thought, 'I don't want to be there.