Neon Inks Strategic Partnership With Waypoint Entertainment For Indie Film Slate

EXCLUSIVE: Grammy award-winning singer/songwriter, award-winning actress and author Fantasia Barrino Taylor or Fantasia (The Color Purple) is launching Rock Soul Productions, a new entertainment company that she has formed in partnership with award-winning live event producer, and artist manager Yvonne McNair. Headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, Rock Soul Productions is a full-service operation with divisions centered in the areas of management, production, and entertainment ventures.

“A Bit of Light.”Moyer, 54, directs Paquin, 41, in the indie movie, written by Rachel Callard and based on her eponymous stage play.It’s the second time that Moyer has directed Paquin in a big-screen movie following “The Parting Glass” (2018).He also directed her in episodes of “True Blood” when they co-starred on the HBO series as vampire Bill Compton and telepathic waitress Sookie Stackhouse from 2008-2014.“A Bit of Light” follows the journey of Ella (Paquin), an alcoholic mother living with her father (Ray Winstone) and dealing with self-loathing after losing her two daughters over her drinking — and the 13-year-old boy, Neil (Luca Hogan), who helps her see the “light” toward a better future.“Ella is at this excruciatingly mundane place after what she thinks is rock-bottom and realizes that the everday-ness of living with her choices and decisions is actually a level of rock-bottom she didn’t know existed yet,” Paquin told The Post.“Throughout the film we see her slightly coming out of her shell little by little … but she does a lot of things within her power to sabotage her own happiness.”Ella strikes up an unlikely friendship with the wise-beyond-his-years Neil, who she meets in the park where she used to take her daughters — and where she frequently goes to brood over her plight.Neil is an odd duck who speaks on an adult level (he addresses Ella’s father, Alan, by his first name) and appears to be friendless. He talks about his parents and older brother (who we never meet) but he always has time to materialize in Ella’s life (and the lives of other characters) at crucial junctures.“This strange, fabulous Neil is on a mission to help her put herself back together and get her life back on track,” Paquin said.

EXLCUSIVE: Sarah Chalke (Scrubs), Alan Tudyk (Resident Alien), Stephen Root (Barry), Isla Fisher (Wolf Like Me), Sabrina Elba (Three Thousand Years Of Longing) and Hiro Kanagawa (Star Trek: Discovery) are joining Kevin James and Alan Ritchson in action-comedy Playdate, which is now filming in Canada.

Free TV Networks (FTN), the new company with a portfolio of national, ad-supported over-the-air networks and FAST channels, is launching another national broadcast network called Dare that will feature unscripted series from A+E Networks.

William Fichtner, Emily Hall and Caroline Concannon have joined the cast of the Michael Mailer Films and Tremendous Entertainment film Cutman.

EXCLUSIVE: This year’s Edinburgh International Film Festival (EIFF) will unspool in close collaboration with Edinburgh Festival Fringe, the Scottish capital’s historic performing arts event, under a new expansive partnership confirmed today by the two organizations. 

As its public dispute with TikTok continues, Universal Music Group has set an expanded strategic relationship with Spotify.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Saudi Arabia, where popular anime characters such as “Captain Tsubasa” and “Dragon Ball” protagonist Son Goku have been engrained in the culture for decades, is taking its love affair with Japanese manga content to the next level. In late March, just a few weeks after the death of “Dragon Ball” creator Akira Toriyama, it was announced that the world’s first theme park dedicated to the megahit Japanese manga and animation franchise will be built in Qiddiya, the massive entertainment and tourism project outside the Saudi capital of Riyadh through a joint venture between Qiddiya and Japan’s Toei Animation.

The BBC is not shying away from artificial intelligence or the U.S. tech giants, according to its Director General.

While on the rise beforehand, director Luca Guadagnino skyrocketed into the stratosphere and onto the international stage with his gay romantic drama, “Call Me By Your Name,” nominated for four Oscars, including Best Picture. The filmmaker will return to similar territory with his next feature film, “Separate Rooms,” which has reunited him with British actor Josh O’Connor (“The Crown”).

EXCLUSIVE: MSNBC Films has unveiled its spring and summer slate including a Dave Eggers documentary about book-banning.

Jazz Tangcay Artisans Editor Sony will release a new animated short titled “The Spider Within: A Spider-Verse Story” on Sony Pictures Animation’s YouTube channel at 6 a.m. PT on March 27.

It’s been less than two months since the end of the 2024 edition, but this morning the Sundance Institute revealed the dates for the 2025 Sundance Film Festival. This year’s event will run from Thursday, January 23 through Sunday, February 2nd.

Two Shell have teamed up with FKA Twigs to share a new club-ready version of the track ‘Talk To Me’.The new release comes following Two Shell dropping various new versions of the single previously – including a karaoke version and various iterations featuring vocals from different artists.Now, with their collaboration with FKA Twigs, the latest edition of the song is arguably their most ecstatic take on ‘Talk To Me’ yet, and sees the duo create a high-octane slice of club-pop.It marks Twigs’ – real name Tahliah Debrett Barnett – first musical appearance since 2022, and features her providing dizzying yet emotional vocals to the song.“With ‘Talk To Me’, Two Shell and FKA Twigs have created a formula for hard-hitting electronic pop that cuts through the digital noise to reveal an irresistibly emotional heart at its core,” reads a press release. “Expertly synthesised euphoria at its finest, ‘Talk To Me’ sets the stage for a modern club anthem – one that is sure to create moments of joy both IRL and URL for years to come.”Check it out below.For Two Shell, the collaboration comes ahead of their upcoming performance at this year’s Coachella Music Festival in Indio, California on April 14 and 21.As for FKA Twigs, the avant-garde singer has turned her sights towards acting in recent months, and is set to star alongside Bill Skarsgård in the upcoming reboot of The Crow.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent After creating a U.K. genre label with Jed Benedict, Studiocanal has forged a partnership with French production company WTFilms to focus on genre films.

EXCLUSIVE: At the 2021 Edinburgh TV Festival, the BBC and Netflix unveiled what the pair described as a landmark five-year disability partnership that would unearth a new generation of shows helmed by disabled talent.

Mount Kimbie have teamed up with their longtime collaborator King Krule on their latest single ‘Empty And Silent’.The six-minute track is the latest offering from the group – comprised of Lynchpin duo Dominic Maker and Kai Campos alongside Andrea Balency-Béarn and Marc Pell – forthcoming LP ‘The Sunset Violent’. ‘Empty And Silent’ follows the previously released single ‘Fishbrain’.‘Empty And Silent’ sees King Krule – real name Archy Marshall – sing over a bright, picturesque beat featuring a pulsing bass line, clean guitar riff and crisp drumming. Directed by Gregory Prestön, the track’s accompanying visualiser features clips of the sky, highways, flowers and tiles.Mount Kimbie and King Krule have previously worked together on the group’s tracks ‘You Took Your Time’ and ‘Meter, Pale, Tone’ from their 2013 LP ‘Cold Spring Fault Less Youth’.

EXCLUSIVE: Drops of God creator Quoc Dang Tran is getting into business with HBO. The writer-producer has signed a two-year overall deal with the premium cable network to create and executive produce content exclusive to HBO. 

EXCLUSIVE: Gina Carano (The Mandalorian, Deadpool) has signed with Straightwire Entertainment Group for management.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief “Escaping Man,” a Chinese drama feature about a man dragged into a kidnap plot, heads the FilMart slate of Hong Kong-based sales agency Autumn Sun Company. The protagonist is a man who spent 20 years in jail after being falsely accused of rape. After his release, he intends to confront the woman, but instead falls for her again — to the point that she is able to manipulate him into kidnapping the child for which she is the nanny.