Netflix Scraps Several Animated Projects, Including Ava DuVernay’s ‘Wings of Fire’ and ‘Antiracist Baby’ (EXCLUSIVE)

The International Academy of Television Arts & Sciences said Monday that Ava DuVernay will receive the group’s 2022 Founders Award, to be presented during the academy’s awards gala in November.

The head of Netflix is still behind two of the company’s most popular comedians.

Naman Ramachandran Netflix has boarded “Darlings,” headlined by top Bollywood star Alia Bhatt and directed by feature debutant Jasmeet K. Reen.Written by Reen, Parveez Sheikh (“Queen”) and Vijay Maurya (Disney+ Hotstar series “The Great Indian Murder”), “Darlings” is billed as a dark comedy which explores the lives of a mother-daughter duo trying to find their place in Mumbai, seeking courage and love in exceptional circumstances while fighting against all odds.The film is produced by Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan’s Red Chillies Entertainment and Bhatt’s Eternal Sunshine Productions.

Emiliano De Pablos Buenos Aires-based FilmSharks has picked up world sales rights to Ángeles Hernández’s supernatural horror film “El faro” (“The Lighthouse”), set up at Mr. Miyagi Films, co-producer of Galder Gaztelu-Urrutia’s multi-awarded Netflix smash hit “The Platform.”“The Lighthouse” ended shooting in May; FilmSharks is showing first footage to buyers at Cannes.Film toplines Spanish film and TV stars Hugo Silva (“Las brujas de Zugarramurdi,” “The Body”) and Paula Echevarría (“Si yo fuera rico,” “Velvet”) plus Zoe Arnao (“El inocente,” “Las niñas”) and Sergio Castellanos (“Tu hijo,” “La peste”).Produced by Hernández and David Matamoros at Barcelona-based Mr.

Rita Ferra, president of ad sales for Disney, said the forthcoming ad-supported tier of Disney+ will have a less “robust” amount of ads compared with Hulu. That disparity, at least initially, will mainly be because about 65% of viewing on the streaming service is for movies, which don’t lend themselves to commercial interruption.

Ava DuVernay’s Wings of Fire, an animated series adaptation of the family fantasy books which had been in development at Netflix since 2021, is the latest victim of animation cuts at the streamer, sources close to the project confirm to Deadline. We hear several other projects are not moving forward as well.

Visual effects and animation firm DNEG has extended its deal with Netflix through 2025.

Ron Howard’s first animated feature, The Shrinking Of Treehorn, has been acquired by Netflix, Deadline can confirm.

A Rhode Island dog whose inspiring story of going from shelter dog to lifesaving police K-9 which became the subject of a recent Netflix movie has been euthanized.

Netflix’s upcoming Indian musical drama The Archies from director Zoya Akhtar has set its cast. The ensemble, who play characters from the iconic Archie Comics franchise, includes emerging talent such as Mihir Ahuja (Bard of Blood), Khushi Kapoor (The Garhwal Rifles) and Shah Rukh Khan’s daughter Suhana Khan in a but role.

Clayton Davis Variety Awards Circuit section is the home for all awards news and related content throughout the year, featuring the following: the official awards predictions for the upcoming Oscars and Emmys ceremonies, curated by Variety senior awards editor Clayton Davis; Awards Circuit Column, a weekly analysis dissecting the trends and contenders by television editor Michael Schneider (for Emmys) and Davis (for Oscars); Awards Circuit Podcast, a weekly interview series with talent and an expert roundtable discussion; and Awards Circuit Video analyzes various categories and contenders by Variety's leading awards pundits. Variety's unmatched coverage gives its readership unbeatable exposure in print and online, as well as provide inside reports on all the contenders in this year's awards season races.

Todd Spangler NY Digital EditorNetflix loves to tout its culture of avoiding rules and minimizing corporate red tape. But of course, the company does have operating guidelines, famously detailed in the Netflix Culture document posted on its website.

Canadian unscripted producer Sean Connolly has set up his own production business and tied up a multi-year strategic deal with compatriot firm Great Pacific Media.

Nick Vivarelli International CorrespondentA nationwide referendum is to be held in Switzerland on May 15 on a proposed law that would force streamers like Netflix and Amazon Prime Video to re-invest 4% of their local revenues in Swiss film and TV productions.Dubbed “Lex Netflix,” the Swiss law –– which is modeled on European regulations that don’t apply in the country as it’s not part of the E.U. –– is sparking plenty of controversy.“Lex Netflix” is being opposed by Swiss groups of different political stripes who say it goes against the principles of the country’s fiercely free-market economy.

Jennifer Maas TV Business WriterNetflix has ordered a docuseries from Shawn Levy, Vox Media Studios and The Verge about how technology will affect the basic aspects of our lives in the future, Variety has learned exclusively.Titled “The Future Of…,” the show asks: “What if we could look into the future to see how every aspect of our daily lives — from raising pets and house plants to what we eat and how we date — will be impacted by technology?” Per Netflix, “We can, and should, expect more from the future than the dystopia promised in current science fiction. ‘The Future Of…’ will reveal surprising and personal predictions about the rest of our lives — and the lives of generations to come.”The series will be released globally in two batches, with the first six episodes premiering Tuesday, June 21, and the remaining six episodes on Tuesday, June 28.

Dave Chappelle has been attacked by a man during a Netflix stand-up show at the Hollywood Bowl.Footage has surfaced online from last night’s show (May 3) which appears to show a man charging and tackling the comedian.The man was then said to have been dragged away by security, according to The Hollywood Reporter.Following the incident at the Netflix Is A Joke festival, Chappelle regained his composure and joked that “it was a trans man” in reference to the backlash last year over his stand-up special The Closer, where he described himself as “team TERF” as he spoke on the controversy surrounding J.K. Rowling.Dave Chappelle just got attacked on stage pic.twitter.com/E4gAfmkPgQ— Hoodville (@Hoodville_) May 4, 2022Here is a video of the aftermath.

A slew of upcoming kids animated series will make their debut on Netflix, including Sonic Prime, Kung Fu Panda: The Dragon Knight, Daniel Spellbound and We Lost Our Human.

Sharon Osbourne is no stranger to cancellation.