L.A-Based Viva Kids Nabs Stake in Canary Islands 3Doubles Animation Studio

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Los Angeles-based Syrian director and producer Sam Kadi, who helmed the doc “Little Gandhi” about the life and death of young Syrian peace activist Ghiyath Matar and produced the Oscar-shortlisted animation film “Lamya’s Poem,” has signed for representation with management company Bohemia Group. Kadi’s first feature was the 2012 indie immigrant drama “The Citizen,” starring Egyptian actor Khaled Nabawy as a Lebanese immigrant who wins a green card through the U.S. lottery system and arrives in New York to claim his documents on Sept. 10, 2001. The drama, also starring Cary Elwes, then follows the protagonist’s hellish 10-year path to citizenship in post-9/11 America, including his detainment by homeland security and his deportation trial.

Winter Love Island runner up Tanya Manhenga has revealed some “weird” Love Island villa rules that contestants had to follow, from using the toilet to eating lunch. Speaking on the Cocktails and Takeaways podcast, Tanya, 23, opened up about some aspects of villa life that viewers at home don’t get to see.

Love Island bosses are continuing to shake things up in the villa and fans are thrilled by all the drama so far, despite the show only being in its second week. A sneak peek of tonight’s episode revealed a new bombshell entering the villa, and fans are saying he is the spitting image of another memorable Islander. Meet Scott Van Der Sluis, a 22-year-old footballer hailing from Connah's Quay in North Wales, who fans are already comparing to former Love Island star Jacques O'Neill, Paige Thorne's ex-boyfriend.

After hearing early demos from Kid Cudi, director Fletcher Moules knew he could connect with the vision of bringing a visual album to life through animation. Serving as an animated companion piece to Kid Cudi’s album of the same name, Entergalactic follows street artist Jabari (Cudi) as he is on the cusp of bringing his art to life in comics. His life changes when he falls for his neighbor Meadow (Jessica Williams), a photographer about to stage an exhibition. It was important for Moules that this special be a character-driven concept album, rather than one long music video, so the story and animation style were essential to get right.

Disney is celebrating their 100th anniversary!

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Jan Naszewski’s Warsaw-based sales outlet New Europe Film Sales has sold its 3D family animation “A Mystery on the Cattle Hill Express,” directed by Will Ashurst, to Viva Kids for North America. The third part in the “Cattle Hill” series is a detective story about the little cow Clara and her friend Gavin who join forces with the world famous detective Agatha Chichester to unveil the thief of a revolutionary Nano-seed stolen from a high-tech laboratory train. New Europe has also sold the film to South Korea (First Run) and South Africa (Red Dot Digitals) and, as previously announced, France (Alba Films), Poland (New Horizons), JUST4KIDS in Benelux, Neo Films in Greece, Birfilm in Turkey, FILMS4YOU in Portugal and Arthousetraffic in Ukraine.

Spoilers for season 1 of . Now that most audiences have gotten through all eight episodes of, it begs the question: Will there be a season 2? While nothing is officially confirmed, Kaley Cuoco, Chris Messina, Tom Bateman and other stars of the comedic crime thriller are certainly down for more. And given all the cliffhangers in the finale, it would be more shocking if creator Craig Rosenberg's true-crime satire didn't get renewed for another season. Before we get into what the cast has to say about returning for more episodes and how some of those cliffhangers could be addressed in season 2 as well as Cuoco's one condition for her character, Ava, who was expecting her first child with husband, Nathan (Messina), in season 1, here's a brief recap of what went down in season 1.  Over the course of the first eight episodes, the true-crime obsessed Ava and Nathan Bartlett tried to turn personal and financial problems around by blackmailing the Westside Ripper into doing a true-crime podcast about his murders after discovering his true identity. It turns out, their local plumber, Matt Pierce (Bateman), was the Los Angeles-based serial killer.

Canary Islands companies either as service studios or production houses. (The Canary island company is featured in brackets)   “200% Wolf,” (3Doubles Producciones) A 3D animated feature and sequel to “100% Wolf” about Freddy Lupin, the dancing wolf, a teenage heir to a family of wolf hunters. Following a transformation into a dog by an evil sorcerer, Freddy embarks on a quest to reclaim his wolf form. The film sees the return of writer Fin Edquist. The film will be distributed across Australia by Studiocanal, while Studio 100 Film is managing international sales.. The production is currently in the animation phase, with the first lighting shots complete. Produced by Flying Bark Productions.

Callum McLennan In the heart of the Atlantic Ocean, the Canary Islands is rapidly becoming a global animation force.   “Tara Duncan,” has charmed audiences via the Disney Channel, “Arcane,” which also uses a Canary Islands service studio, is one of the biggest shows on the planet, and the merchandise of “Miraculous Ladybug,” is seen everywhere.  All three hits share a common thread: the unmissable imprint of talent from this dynamic archipelago.  What began with a small community of digital artists and small studios has now burgeoned into an entire ecosystem of homegrown and international talent making some of the biggest and most innovative projects in the world, either as service studios or true-blue producers.

Daniel Albaladejo Robles Growing up on the island of Tenerife at a time when pursuing a career in animation and film was out of bounds, Albaladejo moved to Madrid to study both subjects at the Madrid Film School. His first jobs were on children’s series “Jelly Jamm,” “Pocoyo” and “The Amazing World of Gumball.” His VFX credits include “Game of Thrones” and “A Monster Calls” at El Ranchito in Madrid. “For the past few years, I have focused on storyboarding or animation, working as a freelancer for various studios, including Las Palmas-based Amuse,” he says. He recently worked on animated docu pic, “Mariposas Negras,” and is now collaborating on a U.K. series under wraps. AMDLF

Fashion fans say an 'elegant' and 'chic' £43 River Island dress is a 'must have' for Summer. The £43 River Island satin Slip Maxi Dress has been described as ‘THE moment’ and will undoubtedly turn heads at Summer weddings, on nights out and at restaurants abroad.

Winter Love Island finalist Samie Elishi looked stunning as she enjoyed the sunny temperatures in the UK this weekend.The former islander, 23, stripped down to a brown strapless bikini top and green shorts as she lapped up the sunshine with her friends in a London park, sipping on a cool beverage as they chatted away.The star wore a pair of dark sunglasses and later covered up in a shirt that matched her shorts as she lounged in a camping chair as temperatures hit over 30 degrees. Samie's chilled weekend comes after rumours that she has reunited with her ex Tom Clare.The pair split just one month after they left the Love Island villa in March, claiming their romance wasn't "going anywhere." At the time Tom was based up north in Macclesfield and Barnsley while Samie was based in the capital, which is said to have played a factor in the pair's decision to split.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Italy’s Fremantle-owned Lux Vide production powerhouse is expanding its in-house studio capacity, unveiling a large new soundstage on Monday at its facilities in Formello outside Rome which will become a major new European physical production hub. Plans are underway for a total of seven state-of-the-art stages, plus a new post-production facility to be in place at Formello by year’s end creating a sprawling Lux Video studio area on more than 6,500 square meters of space (2,5 square miles) including the backlot. Lux Vide’s new Teatro 5 measuring more than 1150 square meters (more than 12,000 square feet) was inaugurated with Italy’s deputy culture minister Lucia Bergonzoni and other local authorities on hand alongside Lux CEO Luca Bernabei, Andrea Scrosati, Fremantle’s group COO and CEO continental Europe, and Lux’s honorary president Matilde Bernabei.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent “Forest,” an Italian eco-themed animation film about deforestation, has scored some strong pre-sales for Rome-based True Colours at the Cannes Marché du film. The still-in-production 3-D animation feature – the protagonist of which is a young mushroom named Fey – has been picked up for roughly 20 territories by Top Film Distribution which will distribute “Forest” in Ukraine, CIS, the Baltics, and Eastern European countries including former Yugoslavia, Bulgaria, Poland, Czech and Slovak Republics, Romania, and Hungary.  Helmed by Luca Della Grotta and Francesco Dafano, the film is produced by Italy’s AI One, the same team that previously spawned 2020 similarly themed animation feature “Trash” that sold in more than 30 countries. 

Anna Marie de la Fuente “Ahahayy!! Viva Mexico, cabrones!” With that battle cry, Academy Award-winner Guillermo del Toro announced Mexico as the Country of Honor at this year’s Annecy, France’s preeminent animation film festival.  According to organizer Pixelatl, an association dedicated to the creation and promotion of Mexico’s multimedia content, more than 250 Mexican animators and producers will descend on Annecy with nine programs scheduled. “The Book of Life” director Jorge R. Gutiérrez, whose Netflix series “Maya and the Three” won four Emmys and an Annie, created the poster and title cards of the festival and will also be hosting a Master Class and screening of “The Book of Life.”

EXCLUSIVE: Gaumont Animation, the company behind series including Kristen Bell’s Do, Re & Mi, has struck a first-look deal with Maya The Bee producer Studio 100 Media.

Liberty Poole has been praised for showing off her "normal" and "non edited" body.The former Love Islander, 23 took to Instagram on Tuesday to share a series of snaps as she posed candidly while on a Mediterranean cruise with co-star and close pal Kaz Kamwi, 28.The TV personality donned a pair of black bikini bottoms and a cropped grey sweatshirt as she posed outside on the boat deck. Showing off her curved figure, she happily held her tummy and threw her arms up in the air. She wrote the caption: "Hands up in the air if you ain’t got a 6 pack and you just don’t care." The 23 year old styled her long brunette hair in loose waves and opted for full makeup as she confidently worked the camera.

Clayton Davis Senior Awards Editor Variety Awards Circuit section is the home for all awards news and related content throughout the year, featuring the following: the official predictions for the upcoming Oscars, Emmys, Grammys and Tony Awards ceremonies, curated by Variety senior awards editor Clayton Davis. The prediction pages reflect the current standings in the race and do not reflect personal preferences for any individual contender. As other formal (and informal) polls suggest, competitions are fluid and subject to change based on buzz and events. Predictions are updated every Thursday. Visit the prediction pages for the respective ceremonies via the links below:

Molly Marsh is getting set to make her big debut as one of the nine contestants entering the Love Island villa tonight, 5 June. Since being revealed as a member of the summer 2023 cast, the new Islander has admitted she's looking for an old-fashioned kind of love. "I don't go out and party and I don't use dating apps," Molly explained.

We've got a text! And it's telling us that the tenth season of Love Island finally arrives on our screens tonight. Among the ten contestants is the beautiful, Catherine Agbaje, who describes herself as "fun", "flirty" and "never boring".The upcoming star certainly backs herself, and she claims Love Island viewers will love her. "I'll be fierce, I'll be confident, I'll be funny, I'll be myself.