Netflix Names Karen Toliver Vice President of Animated Film (EXCLUSIVE)

Netflix has responded to Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine by pausing all of its production and acquisitions work in the territory, Deadline sources confirm.

Ethan Shanfeld Judd Apatow’s upcoming, star-studded Netflix film “The Bubble” follows a group of actors stuck inside a pandemic bubble while shooting a movie at a hotel. That movie — “Cliff Beasts 6: The Battle for Everest: Memories of a Requiem” — just got its own official teaser.“The Bubble” stars Karen Gillan, Fred Armisen, Maria Bakalova, Keegan-Michael Key, David Duchovny, Leslie Mann, Pedro Pascal, Peter Serafinowicz, Vir Das, Rob Delaney and Apatow’s daughter, Iris Apatow.Apatow directs, produces and co-wrote the script for “The Bubble” with Pam Brady, who executive produces alongside Donald Sabourin and Apatow’s longtime partner Barry Mendel.

The Co-Founder of the Ukrainian Film Academy has been named Jury President for this year’s Series Mania.

Netflix will not be adding Russian propaganda programming to its platform in the territory, contrary to initial reports over the weekend.

Ethan Shanfeld Invisible Narratives has hired Apple Music veteran Julie Pilat as president of music.Founded by CEO Adam Goodman, Invisible Narratives is a shopping and entertainment company “at the intersection of the creator economy, the crypto economy and the entertainment business.”In her new role, Pilat will develop new partnerships across the music industry, empower musicians and fans and use storytelling and technology to monetize video content across fandoms. She will report directly to Goodman.Prior to joining Invisible Narratives, Pilat spent eight years at Apple Music as a key executive.

EXCLUSIVE: Cinco Paul is set to make his feature animation directorial debut on Winter Wonderland, the live action/stop motion animation film built around the classic holiday song. Pic is a collaboration between Imagine Kids+Family and Warner Music Group. Deadline previously reported that Paul would be writing original songs for the live action/stop motion picture.

Vivek J. Tiwary has closed an equity investment to launch TEG+, expanding on his award-winning work at Tiwary Entertainment Group and tapped former Netflix and Donners’ Company exec, Jack Leslie, as  Co-President and Head of Film + Television. TEG+ is primed to make an immediate impact in film and television. New company TEG+ will focus entirely on working with high profile original music, premier established music catalogs,  A-list musicians and composers — creating narrative entertainment for all forms of media and technology (stage, film, TV, NFT’s, etc.).

Korea, one of the world’s most advanced economies and now one of the most competitive OTT markets.Now, local contender Tving reckons it has many of the tools it needs to unseat Netflix from its hard-earned position as Korea’s top dog streamer.Streaming industry numbers in Korea have risen in roughly inverse proportion to the decline of theatrical film industry. South Korea was the world’s fourth biggest box office market until 2019, but it is now chugging along with a dearth of local titles and aggregate revenues averaging a miserable $5 million per weekend so far in 2022.Consultancy, Media Partners Asia has estimated in contrast that Netflix may have ended 2021 with some six million paying subscribers (in a population of 51 million).

K.J. Yossman James Cullen Bressack (“Fortress”) is adapting the play “Murder, Anyone?” into a feature film, Variety can exclusively reveal.“Muder, Anyone?” was originally written by Bressack’s father, Emmy Award-winning “Pinky and the Brain” writer Gordon Bressack.

Director Brad Bird is returning to animated feature films, but won’t be heading back to Pixar. Bird previously worked with the Disney-owned animation house leading two Best Animated Feature Oscars for his work on “Incredibles” and “Ratatouille.” According to Deadline, Bird is teaming up with disgraced former Pixar head John Lasseter and Skydance Animation for an original feature film, “Ray Gunn” that the filmmaker will direct from a script he co-wrote with Matthew Robbins.

Jazz Tangcay Artisans EditorAPA has promoted partner Julian Savodivker, to executive vice president and head of global physical production, it was announced today by CEO Jim Gosnell.“Julian is one of the most well-respected agents in the business whose unwavering passion, commitment and exceptional relationships have been instrumental to the overall success of our below-the-line business during one of the most challenging and disruptive periods in the history of our industry,” commented Gosnell in making the announcement. “I’m very pleased to have him take leadership of our Physical Production division as we continue to expand our business through its next stage of strategic growth.”Savodivker joined APA’s Physical Production division as agent in 2013, the same year he was featured as one of Variety’s New Leaders.

EXCLUSIVE: Skydance Animation has scored a major coup by acquiring the rights to make Ray Gunn. That will be the next animated film by writer/director Brad Bird, the Oscar-winning Pixar fixture who made The Incredibles films, Ratatouille, and The Iron Giant, as well as the live action Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol. He will direct and produce the film from an original story by him. Bird wrote the script with Matthew Robbins.

Kanye «Ye» West's story plays out for audiences in the new Netflix documentary trilogy,, but not without some pushback from the 44-year-old rapper.Kanye proclaimed on Instagram last month that he wanted final approval over the documentary, but the filmmakers tell ET's Lauren Zima why that didn't happen. «I’m going to say this kindly for the last time.

K.J. Yossman Canadian content-creation company BGM Inc. has tapped ex-Cineflix exec Kim Bondi as senior vice-president of development.Bondi, who will oversee development strategy and BGM’s premium factual production slate, takes over from development head Sean Connolly.She is the second high-profile hire over the past year for BGM, which was acquired by Sphere Media in 2020 and is bolstering its international ambitions by bringing on top unscripted talent.

Christopher Vourlias Russian production and distribution powerhouse Central Partnership will launch two new animated features at this year’s European Film Market, along with a live-action film that will have its world premiere in competition at SXSW next month.“The Swiss Adventure” (pictured) is the first big-screen animated film from SMF Animation Studio, the venerable Russian animation house formerly known as Soyuzmultfilm. It tells the story of a 16-year-old servant who falls in love with the daughter of a wealthy merchant, who’s determined to marry her off to a rival of high social standing and low moral values.

Jennifer Lopez, 52, wowed on Feb. 4 when she made an appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon in an eye-catching set of outfits. The singer performed her new song “Marry Me”, from the new film Marry Me, with Maluma, and wore a flattering white bikini top under a matching cropped blazer and a long skirt. Before she sang, she also wore a long bright red dress with spaghetti straps as she happily chatted with the show’s host, Jimmy Fallon.

We Don’t Talk About Bruno continues its domination of the UK’s Official Singles Chart, settling in for a third consecutive week at Number 1.

Naman Ramachandran Indian filmmaker Sanjay Leela Bhansali has revealed the first trailer for his long-awaited film “Gangubai Kathiawadi,” which will have its world premiere at the Berlin Film Festival. Starring Alia Bhatt (“Gully Boy”) in the titular role alongside Ajay Devgn (“Tanhaji”), the film is based on the book, “Mafia Queens of Mumbai,” written by S. Hussain Zaidi and Jane Borges.

Marc Sazer, a violinist and longtime union activist, has been elected vice president of L.A.’s American Federation of Musicians Local 47. He succeeds Rick Baptist, who resigned from the post in November after seven years on the job. The local gave no reason for his resignation.