released a joint statement about Perry’s death just hours earlier.“We are all so utterly devastated by the loss of Matthew. We were more than just cast mates.
12.10.2023 - 23:17 / variety.com
Cynthia Littleton Business Editor Shawn Ryan feels like he’s picked up in mid-sentence. The seasoned showrunner is back in his element, leading a writers room and juggling two series, Netflix’s “The Night Agent” and the final season of CBS’ high-octane police drama “S.W.A.T.” The end of the Writers Guild of America strike late last month unleashed a torrent of work for Ryan and his teams based at Sony Pictures Television. “Night Agent” was a little more than halfway done with writing for the 10 episodes for Season 2 when writers went pencils down on May 2.
“Night Agent” debuted with its 10-episode first season on March 23. That was three days after the WGA began its contract negotiations with the major studios under tense circumstances. It was a hard time for Ryan to focus on getting promotional traction for a new property led by two actors relatively unknown to U.S.
audiences, Luciane Buchanan and Gabriel Basso. But to Ryan’s pleasant surprise, “Night Agent” punched above its weight, consistently ranking among Netflix’s top 10 most-watched scripted titles for months after its debut. The significance of that feat came into focus for the showrunner as he returned to work late last month and plugged back in to the world of “Night Agent.” “It’s a remarkable underdog story,” Ryan told Variety.
released a joint statement about Perry’s death just hours earlier.“We are all so utterly devastated by the loss of Matthew. We were more than just cast mates.
Since launching in beta in the U.S. in 2015, the horror-focused streaming service Shudder has developed a unique reputation for quality in streaming, even as its parent company AMC Networks has grappled with the same financial ills affecting the landscape at large.
S.W.A.T. is coming back, after all!
Depeche Mode appeared on The Tonight Show With Jimmy Fallon on Friday night (October 27) – check out their performance of ‘Wagging Tongue’ below.The band stopped by the studio while on their current North American tour to give the song a live airing. It is the second single to be taken from the band’s recent album ‘Memento Mori’, which was released in March and marks their first since bandmate Andy Fletcher’s passing in 2022.The song also recently got the remix treatment courtesy of Wet Leg.Check out their performance below:The band played a European tour earlier this year, which included a show at London’s Twickenham Stadium.
Cynthia Littleton Business Editor “That’s like a billion dollars in Indiana.” That quip from Bobby Axelrod is one of the memorable lines in the series finale of “Billions,” the Showtime drama series that wrapped its seven-season run Oct. 27 with the crowd-pleasing episode “Admirals Fund.” Axelrod, played by Damian Lewis, delivers that line as he takes a victory lap after demolishing his latest foil, rival hedge fund manager Mike Prince (Corey Stoll). It’s a reference to that fact that Prince, after an elaborate sting pulled off by Axelrod and the core “Billions” ensemble, is left wiped out but for $100 million he invested with Black-owned banks a few years ago.
Cynthia Littleton Business Editor “Billions” ends where it began. At the close of “Admirals Fund,” Episode 12 of Season 7 and the series finale of the Showtime drama series, Bobby Axelrod is scheming once again to make a new fortune with his merry band of alpha-male traders, who are revved up by his leadership to kill in the name of capitalism.
Cynthia Littleton Business Editor There was an unmistakable sense of opportunity in the air last week as international media movers and shakers convened in Cannes for the annual Mipcom market and conference. Big European players in particular sense that openings are starting to emerge in what had been rigid business models and licensing protocols for the largest streaming platforms. The rush to cut costs and consolidate operations in the U.S.
Halloween Horror Nights at Universal Studios Hollywood always serves up Southern California’s scariest Halloween event and this year is no different!
Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Aiming to grow its global direct-to-consumer distribution, Paramount+ has set the international rollout plans for its premium and ad tier subscriptions following a launch across more than 45 markets last year. The premium plan will launch in Australia, Brazil, Canada and Mexico on Nov.
Cynthia Littleton Business Editor Nadav Palti is about to mark his 20th year as CEO of Dori Media, the prolific Israeli production and distribution firm headquartered in Tel Aviv. Earlier this month, Palti and Dori executives from Argentina, Mexico, Switzerland, Spain, Singapore and other locations were busy preparing to bring the company’s largest-ever slate of TV shows and movies to pitch to global buyers. Everything changed on Oct.
John Hopewell Chief International Correspondent In news that is sure to move waves in Spain, Portugal and beyond, former Netflix exec Juan Mayne, a name inextricably linked to the build of Spain as a global film-TV power, has been appointed as SkyShowtime regional content director for Iberia, encompassing Spain and Portugal. The move creates an effective new streaming door to knock on for Spanish producers as some other – though not all – platforms are curbing commissions or orders in the two countries.
Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Canal+ Group chairman and CEO Maxime Saada, who was honored at Mipcom with the Variety Vanguard Award Monday, underscored how the experience of the past informs the company’s future strategy, which includes an emphasis on aggregation and a ramping up of in-house production. He also explained why he believes his company “owes so much to Netflix,” but fears Amazon and YouTube.
Cynthia Littleton Business Editor As Big Media becomes ever more consolidated, Studios71 is preparing to launch a flotilla of startup media businesses in the coming years. The creator services company is designed to fulfill a range of production, marketing, distribution, advertising and sponsorship sales functions for its social media star clients. The end game is to turn personalities into brands that harness the power of their followings in social media first and foremost.
Cynthia Littleton Business Editor Lowell Peterson‘s tenure as executive director of the Writers Guild of America East was destined to be bookended by strikes. After 15 years at the helm, Peterson will step down from his post as of Nov. 15 when his current three-year contract expires.
Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Sean Penn, whose Volodymyr Zelenskyy documentary “Superpower” recently launched on Paramount+, will be on the iconic stage of Cannes’s Grand Auditorium later this month — but it won’t be for a movie. The Oscar winner is set to attend Mipcom, the international TV conference, alongside Matthew Fox (“Lost”) and Kick Gurry (“Edge of Tomorrow”) to discuss their wartime satire series “C*A*U*G*H*T” as part of a Media Mastermind Keynote on Oct. 18.
Emily Longeretta Eight of Wolf Entertainment/Universal Television writers rooms are opening this week following the end of the writers strike. Additionally, two new showrunners have been named: “Chicago Fire” Season 12 will be run by Andrea Newman, formerly co-showrunner with Derek Haas; and “FBI: International” Season 3 will be run by executive producer Matt Olmstead.
Cynthia Littleton Business Editor AI, streaming residuals and minimum rate hikes will be among the key issues on the table when SAG-AFTRA and Hollywood’s largest employers sit down Monday for the first formal bargaining talks since the performers union went on strike July 14. SAG-AFTRA and negotiators for the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers are expected to meet around midday at the union’s Miracle Mile headquarters at SAG-AFTRA Plaza. The talks follow the settlement the AMPTP reached last week with the Writers Guild of America after a 148-day strike.
It sounds like Travis Kelce and Taylor Swift are getting even closer!
William Earl Bill Maher returned to the airwaves with HBO’s “Real Time” for the first time since the strike with only mild praise for the Writers Guild of America for settling the five-month strike. Season 21 of “Real Tiime with Bill Maher” became the first of TV’s prominent late-night talk shows to return to the airwaves after the conclusion of the 148-day work stoppage.