Lawmakers To Meet With Bob Iger, Tim Cook On China’s Trade And Business Practices

Matt Donnelly Senior Film Writer Bob Yari and Marvin Peart’s new content venture WonderHill Studios has named four key executives to bolster operations, Variety can report exclusively. Joining Oscar winner Yari and Peart are executives including The Weinstein Company veteran Laurent Ouaknine as president of distribution; David McPherson as president of music and VP of alternative TV; former Solstice Studios CFO Shaun Williams in the same role; and CJ Vranca as executive vice president of business and legal affairs. “This incredibly talented team has invaluable experience and are key pillars to what we are building at WonderHill Studios,” said Yari and Peart. “We look forward to sharing our team’s strategic initiatives as we collaborate and grow our upcoming versatile slate within film and television.”

Flights from Manchester Airport to mainland China will return to pre-pandemic levels from next month in what has been described as a 'significant' economic boost for the city region, it was confirmed today.

Japan boss Hajime Moriyasu says he wants to sit down and build a "friendly relationship" with Ange Postecoglou as he gets set to tour Europe and assess his squad options.

Isaac Perlmutter’s time at Disney had run its course and the former Marvel Entertainment chairman’s removal “was a necessary step in the direction of us creating a more efficient company,” CEO Bob Iger said. He said the decision was not due to Perlmutter’s support of activist investor Nelson Peltz.

100 “Most Influential People” in the world, Time Magazine declared Thursday.Iger, who returned to the helm at Disney in November, was included in the 20th annual “Time 100” list. He appears on one of four worldwide covers for the magazine’s print edition. Actor Jennifer Coolidge, recording artist Doja Cat and actor Michael B.

Veteran Scots trade union activist Bob Gillespie has died.

Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-WI), the chairman of the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party, led a delegation of lawmakers last week for meetings in Hollywood and Silicon Valley, with an eye toward gathering information on how the two California-centric industries interact with Beijing.

OMG!

Walt Disney Co. CEO Bob Iger and other industry executives are meeting privately this week with members of Congress to discuss how to respond to China’s strong-arm tactics to stifle and censor filmmakers.Several members of the House Select Committee On the Chinese Communist Party attended two meetings with filmmaker groups Wednesday, and plan to meet Friday with Apple Inc.

EXCLUSIVE: Members of a House select committee on China met with Walt Disney Co. CEO Bob Iger and later with a group of Hollywood filmmakers and executives on Wednesday, amid concerns over industry business practices in engaging with Beijing.

It's being reported that Prince Harry and Meghan Markle will not be part of the group on the Buckingham Palace balcony for the King's Coronation next month.

What could the future possibly hold for an artist if they have grown too comfortable with success? If they have stayed put in that snug place of glory, but the times have moved on fast without them? These are the hefty considerations at the heart of “Paint,” a slight comedy that sadly embraces neither the worthwhile questions that surround its central premise nor the story’s dark humor potential.That’s too bad, because writer-director Brit McAdams’ narrative feature debut is rooted in a genuinely fascinating subject that apparently served as an inspiration for “Paint.” McAdam’s muse is Bob Ross, a real-life American public television mainstay of the ‘80s and ‘90s. Being the host of a successful PBS show called “The Joy of Painting” during that time, Ross built a loyal audience who loved and were mesmerized by his soothing voice, and even haunted by his creative process and ease with a brush, as Ross slowly created his art in front of curious eyes, narrating it softly and philosophically.

Disney CEO Bob Iger said the company has reached a new stage of its evolution in streaming and will consider “on occasion” licensing some titles to third parties.

For the first time, Bob Iger is speaking out and addressing the ongoing battle between the company and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis. He also answered a frankly bizarre question about the company’s so-called “woke agenda,” both with the kind of poise and composure that made him such a favorite of his employees as well as the shareholders, during the Disney Shareholders meeting.“Let me if you don’t mind let me address this issue which I haven’t really done much publicly. But I’d love the opportunity just to put it all in perspective.

A live-action reimagining of Disney Animation’s 2016 hit Moana is in early development at Disney, Dwayne Johnson revealed Monday. The announcement came in a pre-recorded message from Hawaii as part of Disney’s annual shareholder meeting led by CEO Bob Iger.

Bob Iger is back, debonaire, relaxed, articulate and talking up Disney IP via video in front of Walt Disney Word, where the company appears to have outmaneuvered Ron DeSantis for control. He also fianlly spoke his mind on the simmering feud, telling the company’s virtual annual shareholder meeting today that the governor’s apparent “retaliation” against Disney for exercising a right to free speech “is not only anti-business, but anti-Florida,” given the jobs, taxes, resources and revenue Disney provides the state.

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer Returned CEO Bob Iger made a rare public comment about Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ moves to “punish” Disney for its position against Florida’s so-called “Don’t Say Gay” Bill last year during the company’s annual shareholders meeting Monday, calling the decision “not just anti-business, but anti-Florida.” “It seems like he’s decided to retaliate against us,” Iger said, referring to DeSantis’ power struggle with Disney in Florida, the home of Disney World, in an attempt “to punish a company for its exercise of a constitutional right.” “That seems really wrong to me,” he added. “We’re currently planning now to invest over $17 billion Disney World over the next 10 years,” Iger said, noting that Disney estimates this will lead to 13,000 new jobs within the company and “thousands of indirect jobs” in the state, thus bringing in more taxes for Floriday.

And the plot thickens.

Disney’s former head of communications Zenia Mucha is advising TikTok as the beleagued company fights calls to shut it down in the U.S. on security concerns, Deadline has confirmed. It’s already banned across the Federal government with President Biden recently ramping up demands that the global app’s Chinese parent sell the U.S. business to a company Stateside, or see it vanish.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Zenia Mucha, formerly Disney’s top spokesperson for almost two decades, was recruited to be part of the team that coached TikTok’s CEO for his congressional hearing earlier this month, according to a new report. In addition to Mucha, TikTok tapped former Obama advisers David Plouffe and Jim Messina to prep Shou Zi Chew, CEO of TikTok, for more than a month before Chew’s March 23 appearance before the House Energy and Commerce Committee — which observers said only reinforced anti-TikTok attitudes among both Republican and Democratic lawmakers concerned about the app’s Chinese ownership by parent company ByteDance. TikTok did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Mucha could not be reached for comment.