Live Nation, Spotify Join Growing List Of Entertainment Companies Ceasing Russia Business

Emilio Mayorga Argentine actor Joaquín Furriel is set to topline Rafa Russo’s next feature, “Devotion” (“Devoción”), which will be produced by Málaga-born producer-director Ezekiel Montes at his label 73140323PC.Spanish actress Elena Martínez, who has starred in Gustavo Hernández’s “Lobo Feroz” and Montes’ admired feature debut “A Dead Man Cannot Live,” which premiered at the Málaga fest last year, will co-star in “Devotion.”Furriel is mainly known for his star turn in Sebastián Schindel’s Guadalajara Actor, New Director double-winner “The Boss, Anatomy of a Crime” and “The Son” by the same director. He was also a standout in the HBO Latin America and Pol-Ka-produced TV show “The Bronze Garden,” recipient of five Telly Awards in 2018 and an international Emmy Awards nomination.

Sasha Urban editorIn a conversation on CNBC’s “TechCheck” on Monday, Live Nation Entertainment CEO and president Michael Rapino said he expects a record year for the company’s ticket sales, despite the ongoing conflict between Ukraine and Russia.“We don’t have a lot of shows in that area so that hasn’t really affected our business,” Rapino told CNBC’s Julia Boorstin. “Europe seems to be business as usual right now for the summer, so we haven’t seen any disruption in our core business around the world in terms of touring.”He continued, “We’re still tracking 30% plus up year over year, we’re seeing consumers buying tickets on sale this weekend.

Duran Duran lit up the Capitol Records building in blue and yellow – the colours of the Ukrainian flag – and dedicated their 1992 song ‘Ordinary World’ to the people of Ukraine.The band performed to an intimate crowd of 250 – mostly friends, family and industry professionals – on the rooftop of the Aster nightclub on Thursday (March 17). Capitol Tower is in clear eyeshot of the Aster, and with Duran Duran having previously been signed to Capitol Records, it made a perfect backdrop for their message of solidarity with Ukraine.In a statement shared alongside a clip of the performance, bassist John Taylor said: “We are appealing to our fans in Russia to have an open heart and to support peace.

Judi Love has opened up about her fears for refugees fleeing Ukraine and has said she tries not to have the news on too much in front of her children as she doesn't want to frighten them. "I don’t want them to be scared, but it is, of course, terrifying," the Loose Women star says. In her latest OK! column, the Loose Women panelist also reflects on her exciting International Women's Day project and shares her thoughts on Piers Morgan's latest TV plans.

Peter Debruge Chief Film CriticBack together in person after two years of going virtual during the pandemic, the Austin-based SXSW Film Festival has announced its juried prizes. As in previous editions, the awards show happened at the midpoint of the nine-day event, before SXSW’s music events suck much of the attention away from film screenings.The top prize in narrative feature competition went to “I Love My Dad,” written and directed by James Morosini, who also stars as a younger version of himself in this uncomfortable retelling of how he was catfished by his father (played by Patton Oswalt).“Morosini displays massive empathy as a filmmaker to get into the mind of the father he feels betrayed by, and also as an actor portraying the impact of that betrayal,” said the jury, who also gave special jury prizes to the cast and crew of “It Is in Us All” and Elizaveta Yankovskaya, star of the Russian film “Nika.” Best documentary feature honors went to director Rosa Ruth Boesten’s “Master of Light,” a portrait of once-incarcerated painter George Anthony Morton’s steps to rebuild his life after prison, which impressed its jury for its empathy as well.“With astonishing intimacy, the film’s visuals build an artful bridge between two- and three-dimensional realms that are deeply rooted and utterly transcendent,” the jury explained.

Paramount Global is temporarily halting its operations in Russia and giving $1 million to support humanitarian relief for Ukraine.

Todd Spangler NY Digital EditorSpotify has suspended premium service in Russia after the country launched its war on Ukraine — a move that the audio streaming powerhouse expects to result in a loss of about 1.5 million paying customers in the first quarter of 2022.That’s according to Spotify CFO Paul Vogel, who spoke at Morgan Stanley’s 2022 Technology, Media and Telecom Conference on Wednesday. According to a Spotify spokesperson, the loss of its business in Russia is not material: The country represents less than 1% of total revenue.Vogel also alluded to the recent controversy over podcaster Joe Rogan, which has spurred calls to boycott the streamer (but Vogel didn’t identify Rogan by name).Prior to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, according to Vogel, Spotify was trending ahead of its Q1 guidance of adding a net 8 million total users, including 3 million paying customers.

Manori Ravindran International EditorJake Paltrow’s forthcoming feature film “June Zero” has been picked up for sales by ICM Partners in North America and Films Boutique for the rest of world.Written by Paltrow and Tom Shoval, “June Zero” explores true stories surrounding the 1962 execution of Adolf Eichmann — one of the key architects of the Holocaust — in Israel through three characters intimately involved in the nation-defining event: David, a precocious thirteen-year-old Libyan factory worker looking to belong; Haim, Eichmann’s main prison guard, tasked with protecting this dead man walking; and the Police Investigative officer of the Eichmann trial, Micha, on his first trip back to Poland since surviving Auschwitz-Birkenau — where he tries to make sense of the future of the Jewish homeland’s soul post-execution. “June Zero” was shot on Super-16mm film in Israel and Ukraine under strict COVID-19 regulations, and represents writer-director Paltrow’s first foreign language production.

Films Boutique and ICM Partners have launched sales on Jake Paltrow’s upcoming drama June Zero, with Films Boutique handling international rights and ICM overseeing distribution in North America.

As Putin's invasion of Ukraine continues on after more than two weeks, many companies and businesses around the world are backing out of Russia's economy.

Christopher Vourlias Before the Russian army launched an invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24, French war correspondent Loup Bureau was embedded in Donbass, the restive borderland in Eastern Ukraine, which since 2014 has been the site of an ongoing conflict between Russian-backed separatist groups and Ukrainian government forces.Reports were circulating of an impending Russian attack. Bureau, who had already spent time in the region while shooting his feature-length documentary “Trenches” – screening next week at the Thessaloniki Documentary Festival – expected it to be a localized skirmish.

@Valerisssh, has garnered more than 300,000 followers since Russian President Vladimir Putin launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine two weeks ago. The TikTokker’s age has not been reported, but she reportedly is living in a below-ground bunker with her parents, as the conflict shows no signs of abatingOne video, titled “My Typical Day In A Bomb Shelter,” has been viewed a whopping 22 million times and shows @Valerisssh hunkering down with her family.

Saturday Night Live” cold open, they celebrated Russia’s Ukrainian invasion with an “all-star” Fox News special.On the “Fox News Ukrainian Invasion Celebration Spectacular,” from Mar-a-Lago, Ingraham (Kate McKinnon) and Carlson (Alex Moffat) welcomed Donald Trump (James Austin Johnson) — who sang “My Funny Valentine” in tribute to his pal, authoritarian Russian leader Vladimir Putin. Also appearing were Steven Segal (Bowen Yang), and Donald Trump Jr.

Live Nation will no longer operate in Russia in protest at the eastern European country's invasion of Ukraine, it was announced on Wednesday “Live Nation joins the world in strongly condemning Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. We will not promote shows in Russia, and we will not do business with Russia,” Live Nation said in a statement to Rolling Stone.

Reading & Leeds.In a statement shared yesterday (March 2), Live Nation wrote that it’s joining “the world in condemning Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and applauds all the musicians who are using their voices to promote peace”.“We will not promote shows in Russia, and we will not do business with Russia. We’re in the process of reviewing our vendors so we can cease work with any and all Russian-based suppliers,” it added.Live Nation joins the world in condemning Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and applauds all the musicians who are using their voices to promote peace.

A.D. Amorosi When Patti Smith joined Substack — the now-five-year-old online platform that publishes and pays writers on a subscription model — the poet, author and Rock and Roll Hall of Famer had been stuck at home in New York City after having canceled a world tour due to COVID.Starting with her tagline (“The reader is my notebook”), and moving into her serialized, on-line novel (“The Melting,” currently 44 chapters long), Smith’s “journal of my private pandemic” promised “an inter-connective body of work for a responsive community,” filled with “ruminations, shards of poetry, music, and musings on whatever subject finds its way from thought to pen, news of the mind, pieces of this world.” Rather than maintain a diary’s staid setting, the communally driven Smith engages her subscriber base with freshly penned songs and poetry readings of her her heroes’ work and her own.

Netflix’s The Tinder Swindler, is facing a lawsuit from the real Leviev family which he pretended to be a part of.In court documents obtained by People, Israeli Russian diamond tycoon Lev Leviev and his family have filed a lawsuit against Hayut for allegedly impersonating them and “receiving numerous benefits (including material ones)” for using the family name.The lawsuit, filed in Tel Aviv, claims that Hayut has been “cunningly using false words, claiming to be a member of the Leviev family, and that his family will pay and bear the cost of his benefits”.The court documents allege that Hayut “defrauded, cheated, conned, falsified, and hurt women, men and businesses” all over the globe.“The defendant used the dating application Tinder to locate women who he then emotionally manipulated, cunningly bamboozled of funds, and eventually convinced to transfer large sums of money to him under the guise of being on the run from individuals intending on hurting him,” the lawsuit reads.Guy Ophir, the attorney for the Leviev family, has said this is “only the beginning” of their legal action against Hayut, with more lawsuits in the works.In a statement to Metro.co.uk, a representative for Hayut denied any wrongdoing. “Simon believes the family is just trying to insert themselves in the narrative for publicity after the show’s success.“Simon also legally changed his name in 2015 and looks forward to this getting thrown out in court.”Hayut is estimated to have allegedly stolen $10million (£7.4million) from a number of victims under the alias of Simon Leviev, after gaining their trust with the promise of expensive dates.Since the Netflix series aired, Hayut has been banned from Tinder, Hinge and other dating apps.

Spring is arriving, COVID cases are dropping and there's renewed optimism that things are getting back to normal. No, it's not March 2020, but the headspace from that time is where we find ourselves once more as omicron subsides.