Layoffs Hit Solstice Studios

Michael Schneider Variety Editor at LargeBranded entertainment vet Stuart McLean has launched FAST Studios, a new business aiming to capitalize on the quickly growing programming sector known as FAST — free, ad-supported television channels.As more companies aim to launch their own FAST channels to be distributed on platforms such as ViacomCBS’ Pluto TV and Comcast’s Xumo, FAST Studios is pitching itself as an investor and operator to handle day-to-day services like scheduling, marketing,

coronavirus surge in the city. Five of the studios’ programs — including two from the hit “NCIS” series — will be affected by the pause, which pushes back the return of post-holiday production from Jan. 4 to Jan.

Disney Television Studios has joined other major TV studios in pushing the post-holidays start of production for Los Angeles-based shows amid an unprecedented surge in coronavirus infections and Covid-19 deaths in Los Angeles County.

It was supposed to be a year when the playing field became even.

Elaine Low Senior TV WriterA number of CBS Studios productions — including “NCIS,” “NCIS: Los Angeles,” “Seal Team,” “Why Women Kill” and “Diary of a Future President” — are extending their holiday hiatus by one week amid the spiking COVID-19 surge in Los Angeles County, Variety has learned.Those productions will resume on Jan. 11.

CBS Studios has pushed several return-to-production dates coming off the current holiday hiatus. The news comes a day after Deadline reported that the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health had urged the film and TV industry to consider pausing production for a few weeks during the ongoing surge in coronavirus cases throughout the county and hours after the stay-at-home order for Southern California was extended to Jan. 16.

That’s "Psycho." An on-duty Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputy allegedly had sex with a woman near the Bates Motel section of the Universal Studios lot — and accidentally left his microphone on for a dispatcher to hear a blow-by-blow of the sleazy romp. TMZ obtained a clip of the X-rated encounter between the unnamed deputy and a woman near the section of the lot in Universal City devoted to the Alfred Hitchcock classic.

EXCLUSIVE: Labid Aziz has joined Wayfarer Studios as Chief Operating Officer and Chief Financial Officer based in the Los Angeles office. The former Starzione executive is charged with the operational and financial health of the newly established company including development and oversight of corporate strategy, governance and growth along with oversight and management of all company investments.

Laying the course for the future, Alan Bergman is succeeding Alan Horn as Walt Disney Studios chairman, while Horn will focus solely on his role as chief creative officer, the company announced Monday. The move isn't a surprise.

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Disney this morning has named Alan Bergman as Chairman, Disney Studios Content, with Alan Horn continuing to serve as the division’s Chief Creative Officer.

Naman Ramachandran Andy Taylor, one of the pioneers of the U.K. digital space, has died from cancer.

Garden Studios, a 62,000 sq ft film and TV production site, is set to open in London in early 2021.

Naman Ramachandran Arts Alliance is opening Garden Studios, a 62,000-square-foot facility located in Park Royal, West London, in the first quarter of 2021.Garden Studios will offer four sound stages, workshops, technical facilities and fully equipped offices.

In a COVID-free alternate universe, the world would have already seen Chloe Zhao’s blockbuster directorial debut in Marvel Studios’ “Eternals.” The film was originally scheduled for release in November before being delayed several times all the way into November 2021, where it is currently set up. And of all the Phase 4 features, “Eternals” might be the most interesting, as it is a brand-new franchise with a superstar ensemble.

Sky Studios, the production arm of Comcast-owned European pay TV giant Sky said on Monday that its CEO Gary Davey would step down next year. He will continue to lead the team until a new CEO is appointed and leave the company next summer.

Manori Ravindran International EditorGary Davey, CEO of Sky Studios, is stepping down from the post in 2021, with plans to retire.Davey — a long-time veteran who first joined the company upon its launch in 1989 — was appointed CEO of Sky Studios in June 2019, famously telling the industry that “we only have one rule and that is ‘no rules'” in regards to the fledgling studio’s strategy under new owners Comcast.

Gary Davey, the CEO of Comcast-owned Sky Studios, has announced his decision to retire in summer 2021 after more than a decade with the company.

The organisers of the Summer Solstice Gay Weekend have announced that the event has been postponed due to growing concerns around a possible second wave of Covid-19 cases during the festive season.