Kwame Kwei-Armah Joins Fifth Season-Backed Production Company The Story Collective (EXCLUSIVE)

Nicki Minaj is voicing her thoughts on Megan Thee Stallion.

Following the success of Air, Matt Damon and Ben Affleck are reuniting again on the kidnapping thriller Animals, with Damon starring and Affleck directing. Connor McIntyre penned the script with revisions by Billy Ray. The film will be produced by Affleck, Damon and Dani Bernfeld of Artists Equity and Brad Weston and Collin Creighton of MakeReady, who developed the project in partnership with Fifth Season.

EXCLUSIVE: Gaz Alazraki, Alisa Tager, Mark Alazraki and Moises Chiver have partnered to create Maquina Vega, a new production company with offices in Los Angeles and Mexico City, which will provide a pipeline between the English and Spanish-speaking worlds.

“We Are the World” was a once-in-a-generation meeting of musical giants when it was recorded Jan. 28, 1985 — and released two months later on March 7 — to benefit African famine relief.Anyone who was anyone in music at that moment — a who’s who of legends, including everyone from Stevie Wonder, Diana Ross and Bob Dylan to Billy Joel, Tina Turner and Bruce Springsteen — showed up to support the cause.Written by Michael Jackson and Lionel Richie and produced by Quincy Jones and ’80s hitmaker Michael Omartian, the single sold a whopping 20 million copies.

Joe Gatto didn’t recount his High School experience all too fondly during his first solo show at the Beacon Theatre in New York City. “I was the white kid who loved math and bowled… so… unf***able,” he joked.Clearly, the 47-year-old comic forgot to mention he also had his wild sense of humor going for him.

EXCLUSIVE: HanWay Films will represent international sales at next month’s EFM on Berlinale Competition title La Cocina. Fifth Season co-financed the film and is co-representing North America with WME.

Brent Lang Executive Editor Mavis Beacon taught the world to type. Starting in the late 1980s, a software program featuring the eponymous instructor drilled computer users on their keyboard skills, selling more than 10 million copies worldwide. But it often comes as a shock to find out that Beacon never really existed.

EXCLUSIVE: Imagine Entertainment co-chairmen Brian Grazer and Ron Howard have entered into a multi-year co-financing and production partnership with Fifth Season and their co-CEOs Graham Taylor and Chris Rice.

Coachella, Bonnaroo, Austin City Limits, Summerfest, Pitchfork Music, etc. They all owe an enormous debt to Lollapalooza, the groundbreaking music festival that helped change the touring and music industry just as alternative music peaked in the early 90s.

Lorenzo Mieli and Mario Gianani are exiting their Fremantle-owned Italian production companies.

Nominations for the EE British Academy Film Awards will be unveiled Thursday in London via a livestream that begins at 12 pm GMT/4 AM PST.

Rafa Sales Ross Guest Contributor Writer and director Amrou Al-Kadhi shares many similarities with the eponymous protagonist of their directorial debut “Layla,” a drama about how a drag queen’s first love influences their sense of self. Al-Kadhi speaks exclusively to Variety ahead of the world premiere of “Layla” Thursday in Sundance Film Festival‘s World Cinema Dramatic Competition.

ACF Investment Bank, which helped with the sale of Pilgrim Studios to Lionsgate and Charlie Brooker’s Broke & Bones to Netflix, has a new majority owner.

Joe Otterson TV Reporter Tan France has partnered with Madison Wells to incubate and grow his newly-founded production company, French Tuck Media, Variety has learned exclusively. Madison Wells, the production company founded by Gigi Pritzker, will work with France and French Tuck to develop a content slate that will be co-produced by both companies.

Ryan Murphy loves a TV anthology franchise. He’s already got ”American Story,” “Feud,” “American Horror Story,” “Monster,” and probably a few more we’re forgetting.

EXCLUSIVE: Emmy-nominated Yellowjackets executive producer Drew Comins has signed a first-look deal with film and TV studio Fifth Season for his Creative Engine Entertainment production company. Under the pact with the indie studio, run by co-CEOs Graham Taylor and Chris Rice, Creative Engine will continue to develop talent-driven original series for streaming platforms and premium cable outlets, which Comins will be executive producing.

Oscar-nominated movie directed by Ava DuVernay follows Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. (David Oyelowo) during the 1965 Selma-to-Montgomery voting rights marches.

Lenny Kravitz usually waits for music to come to him, like the way he wrote his iconic 1991 song, “It Ain’t Over ‘til It’s Over”.

Alex Ritman French TV giant Banijay has sold back the production arm of Beyond International — the Australian producer and distributor best known for “Mythbusters” it fully acquired in Dec. 2022 — to the company’s managing director, Mikael Borgland.

EXCLUSIVE: Another high-profile post-strike TV package has found a buyer. In a competitive situation with multiple bidders, Netflix has nabbed Covers, a drama from Girls creator Lena Dunham, who is set to write, direct and executive produce under her Good Thing Going banner; Drew Comins’ Creative Engine Entertainment (Yellowjackets); and Fifth Season, sources tell Deadline.