Netflix Nabs Post-PVOD Streaming Rights to Sony's Feature Films in Multiyear Deal

Elaine Low Senior TV WriterLongtime Sony Pictures Entertainment executive Keith Le Goy has been named the studio’s chairman of worldwide distribution and networks.Le Goy joins SPE motion picture group’s Tom Rothman and global TV studios and corporate development’s Ravi Ahuja as one of three chairman-level leaders running the studio’s business under Sony Pictures Entertainment chairman and CEO Tony Vinciquerra.Here’s the full memo from Vinciquerra:I am pleased to announce that Keith Le Goy has

Swedish Film Institute Chief Leaving Anna Serner, CEO of the Swedish Film Institute, is leaving her position after a decade in the role. The long-standing exec has overseen a pivotal period for the org, with the industry undergoing seismic changes during her 10 years at the helm, including the #MeToo movement.

Earlier in the year, Netflix promised a barrage of movies coming in 2021. Well, they weren’t kidding and today, have unveiled a big summer slate of 30 movies coming every week this summer.

In a surprise win, Anthony Hopkins took home the best actor statue at the Oscars on Sunday for his work in The Father. Going into the ceremony, the late Chadwick Boseman was the heavy favorite to win for his final film role asLevee inMa Rainey's Black Bottom.

Just months after Sia's feature directorial debut Music shocked awards observers by landing two Golden Globe nominations, the poorly-reviewed film has secured the dubious distinction of topping the 2021 Razzie Awards, celebrating the worst in film. Music, which ultimately didn't win anything at the Golden Globes, won three Razzie awards: worst actress (Kate Hudson), supporting actress (Maddie Ziegler) and worst director (Sia).

Summer blockbusters aside, this time of year is when TV tends to veer off into the mundane but not so for summer ’21.

Nominated for best documentary feature alongside “Collective,” “Crip Camp,” “The Mole Agent” and “Time,” Netflix’s ode to nature, “The Octopus Teacher,” has gained traction in the Oscars race over recent weeks. The film, which chronicles a diver named Craig Foster, who documented his time swimming with an octopus that lives in a kelp forest off the coast of South Africa, has recently picked up wins at the BAFTAs, alongside a surprise win at the Producers Guild of America Award.

Naman Ramachandran Netflix and Working Title have started production on “The Swimmers,” directed by “My Brother the Devil” helmer Sally El Hosaini.The film tells the true story of swimming sisters Yusra and Sarah Mardini’s journey as refugees from war-torn Syria all the way to the 2016 Rio Olympics.In 2015, after their house was destroyed in the Syrian Civil War, the Mardini sisters decided to flee the country.

Naman Ramachandran Netflix head of global TV Bela Bajaria says that staying authentically local is key to global success for the giant streaming platform.Speaking at the opening day of the annual Asia Pacific focused APOS conference, a virtual affair for the second year in a row due to COVID-19, Bajaria said that the localization process is led by on-ground leadership.Bajaria described “extraordinary empowered, local decision makers,” who “make the decisions in their own time zone in their own

Netflix has given a formal eight-episode series order to Florida Man. Edgar Ramírez, star of the streamer’s popular movie Yes Day, will headline the hourlong series from veteran TV writer producer Donald Todd and Jason Bateman & Michael Costigan’s Aggregate Films.

Disney Hires Netflix EMEA Exec Emma Smart Disney has recruited Emma Smart, Netflix’s London-based director of business affairs for original series, as its VP for business affairs, originals. Smart will report to Diego Londono, Disney’s EVP, media networks and content, negotiating UK-based original productions, as well as having oversight of European production deals.

Feature films could be the next big untapped market for unscripted reboots. HBO Max is making a reality competition series inspired by Magic Mike and now Sony is looking at its movie library.

Meagan Good (Shazam! Fury of the Gods, Prodigal Son), Karla Souza (How to Get Away with Murder, Home Economics), Scott Adkins (Debt Collectors, Ip Man 4: The Finale), Eric Lange (Perry Mason, Antebellum), Zion Broadnax (Sydney to the Max), and Snoop Dogg (Dolemite Is My Name, The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge on the Run) have been added to the cast of Day Shift, the Netflix film which will mark the directorial debut of JJ Perry.

EXCLUSIVE: Garret Dillahunt (Fear the Walking Dead), Michael Hyatt (Snowfall), Ahna O’Reilly (The Morning Show), Sterling Macer Jr. (Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story), and newcomer Jojo Regina have been added to the cast of Where The Crawdads Sing, the film adaptation based on Delia Owens’ NYT best-selling novel from 3000 Pictures, Hello Sunshine, and Sony. Olivia Newman is attached to direct the pic from a screenplay written by Oscar-nominated screenwriter Lucy Alibar.

Elizabeth Wagmeister Senior CorrespondentColton Underwood, former star of “The Bachelor,” is getting his own reality show at Netflix, Variety has learned.The project, which is currently in production, is an unscripted series with multiple episodes, numerous sources tell Variety, describing the project as focusing on Underwood living his life publicly as a gay man.Netflix declined to comment on the project.News of Underwood’s Netflix deal comes after the television personality, author and former

Naman Ramachandran Sony Pictures Films India has tapped emerging local talent to spearhead its burgeoning Bollywood slate, while simultaneously making moves to aggressively grow its Hollywood footprint.The studio has handed Aakash Bhatia (Amazon series “Inside Edge”) a feature directorial debut with “Looop Lapeta,” the Indian adaptation of “Run Lola Run,” starring Taapsee Pannu and Tahir Raj Bhasin.

Adam B. Vary Senior Entertainment WriterFrom giant apes to giant robots: Filmmaker Jordan Vogt-Roberts (“Kong: Skull Island”) is set to direct and produce a live-action adaptation of wildly popular anime series “Gundam” for Legendary and Netflix, the streamer announced on Monday.Famed comic book writer Brian K.

Britney Spears is celebrating her sister Jamie Lynn on her birthday!