Lionsgate Studios Yonkers Opens For Business: “Important Hub For Our Global Production Activities” – Jon Feltheimer

Bella Hadid got real about a very personal subject.

Once again, Janet Jackson is in control. In her new documentary series, Janet Jackson., the pop icon opens up about practically every major story of her life: her brother Michael Jackson‘s scandals, her private life as a mom, and even the infamous Super Bowl Halftime Show. However, she kicks things off with going back to where it all began, and who it began with — and that means opening up about her father, Joe Jackson.

EXCLUSIVE: Brely Evans and Ben Stephens, who recur on Carl Weber’s The Family Business as Sonya Duncan and Curtis Duncan, have been promoted to series regulars for the upcoming fourth season. Additionally, Bern Nadette Stanis (Good Times), Nayirah Bosley and Sacaiah Shaw have joined the BET+ series in heavily recurring roles. Filming on Season 4 got underway last week in Los Angeles.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefWarnerMedia has made three more senior content hires in Asia to bolster its original productions teams in advance of the launch of HBO Max in the region.In the Singapore-based team, Mark Francis has been appointed group lead of production and development (scripted and unscripted) and Wee Shi Ming has been named lead of entertainment content acquisition for North Asia content. They both report into Magdalene Ew, WarnerMedia’s head of content – entertainment for Southeast Asia, Taiwan and Hong Kong.In Mumbai, Saugata Mukherjee joins WarnerMedia as head of content – entertainment, India.

Clayton Davis A shortened eligibility year, multiple monochrome films and an underappreciated year for animation is what sums up the 2021 cinematic year. Oscar voters will be voting for their favorites in 23 categories for six days.

The inaugural class of Netflix, Tribeca Studios and Gold House’s Future Gold Film Fellowship has been revealed. Directors Lloyd Lee Choi, Erin Lau and Derek Nguyen have been named the program’s first fellows.

Nick Vivarelli International CorrespondentWhen HBO Max drops the fifth and final season of Neapolitan gangster saga “Gomorrah” on Jan. 27, it will also mark the end of a convoluted seven-year journey for Italy’s most widely exported TV show.“In Italian TV, there is a before and after ‘Gomorrah,’” says Nils Hartmann, senior VP of Germany and Italy for Sky Studios, the production arm of the pay TV operator that originated the gritty, hyperrealistic crime skein.Besides attaining megahit status in Italy, the show has traveled to 190 countries, including the U.S., where it ran into snags due to the misdeeds of Harvey Weinstein and The Weinstein Co.’s 2018 bankruptcy.“It was a big mess,” says Oliver Bachert, sales chief at Germany’s Beta, which was selling the show.

Cynthia Littleton Business EditorDigital entrepreneur Jon Steinberg is exiting the streaming business news service that he founded in 2016 and sold to cable operator Altice USA three years later.On Tuesday, Altice promoted Keith Bowen to president of Altice News and Advertising. He’ll succeed Steinberg in leading the cable operator’s in-house News 12 hyper-local news operation serving parts of Long Island, as well as Cheddar News, the i24News international news service that Altice launched in 2017 and Altice’s A4 advanced advertising data operation.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterLulu Wang and Dani Melia have signed a first-look television deal with Amazon via their newly formed production company, Local Time.Wang and Melia first worked together on the critically-acclaimed 2019 feature “The Farewell.” Under the deal, Local Time will develop shows from emerging storytellers for Amazon. Wang is currently directing and executive producing the Amazon drama series “Expats,” based on the Janice Y.K.

William Earl Sky Studios CEO Cécile Frot-Coutaz has been selected as the 2022 recipient of the Variety International Achievement in Television Award, to be presented at global content market MipTV in Cannes in April. Frot-Coutaz was the Head of EMEA at YouTube and CEO of Fremantle before joining Sky Studios last year.The award recognizes individuals who have demonstrated leadership and innovation in the international television marketplace.

Lulu Wang, director of Awkwafina comedy drama The Farewell, and producer Dani Melia have launched their own production company and struck a first-look TV deal with Amazon.

EXCLUSIVE: Ivory Aquino (When They See Us, Tales of the City) has joined the cast of Batgirl, the upcoming superhero film that Bad Boys for Life‘s Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah are directing for HBO Max.

EXCLUSIVE: Established post-production venue Levels Audio has expanded to New York, with noted industry vets Sue Pelino and Kassie Caffiero leading its new facility.

Elsa Keslassy International CorrespondentNewen Studios, the Paris-headquartered production and distribution group, has strengthened its strategic partnership with European producer and financier Anton as it looks to become a major player in the feature film landscape. As part of the new agreement, Anton is giving Newen Studios a global budget of €50 million ($56.6 million) to co-invest in the distribution rights of audiovisual and film projects.

Refresh for latest…: With an amazing $1.69B worldwide cume through Sunday, Sony/Marvel’s Spider-Man: No Way Home has become the No. 6 film ever globally, passing Jurassic World ($1.67B) and The Lion King ($1.662B) to get there. This includes a running $970.1M from the international box office, which should portend an eventual $1B overseas gross — and without a China bump. Domestic is at $721M+.

HBO’s Perry Mason will see a handful of new faces as Sean Astin (Stranger Things), Tommy Dewey (Pivoting),  Oscar-nominee Paul Raci (Sound of Metal) and Jen Tullock (Severance) join the cast for Season 2. Shea Whigha (Gaslit), who appeared in Season 1, will also return for the upcoming season. They will appear opposite Matthew Rhys who stars in the titular role.

K.J. Yossman BBC Studios has struck a partnership deal with Brock Media, the new U.K.

James Gunn is getting a lot of praise for John Cena and company’s stiff, snazzy dance moves in the opening credits of “Peacemaker”.

Sundance Film Festival director Tabitha Jackson made a decision that she had been assiduously trying to avoid. She did not want a repeat of what happened in 2021 when the Park City festival was forced to go virtual in the face of the raging coronavirus. At the time, Jackson gathered a group of filmmakers on Zoom for a get-to-know-you call in which they discussed their cinematic influences.

Jamie Lang DAZN , the world’s leading dedicated sports streaming platform, has amped up its 2022 global original content slate launch with the news that the U.K.-based outfit is launching a new, bespoke production wing dedicated to original content. Accompanying the news, DAZN has also given Variety exclusive access to the international trailer for the streamer’s most ambitious original play yet, Eva Longoria Bastón’s directorial debut “La Guerra Civil,” playing at this year’s Sundance Film Festival.“La Guerra Civil” documents the epic rivalry between all-time great boxers Oscar De La Hoya and Julio César Chávez in the 1990s, which ignited a cultural divide between Mexican nationals and Mexican-Americans on both sides of the border.