New Indie Animation Outfit Studio Unagi Opens in Montreal, Backed by French ‘MFKZ’ Producer Ankama

The best of Broadway was celebrated at the 2024 Tony Awards!

Good afternoon Insiders. We’ve been all over Europe this week, so here’s Max Goldbart, back in the London-shaped saddle, to walk you through the major stories of the past seven days. Scroll on. And sign up here.

The French Connection and Law And Order star star Tony Lo Bianco has died aged 87.The actor passed away on Tuesday night (June 12) at his horse farm in Poolesville, Maryland, following a long battle with prostate cancer, his representatives confirmed (via The Hollywood Reporter).“Tony passed peacefully at 9pm last night with his wife Alyse by his side,” they said in a statement.Born in Brooklyn, New York, in 1936 Lo Bianco was best known for his performance in The French Connection, which won five Academy awards 1971: Best Picture, Best Actor (Gene Hackman), Best Director (William Friedkin), Best Film Editing and Best Adapted Screenplay.He also starred alongside Richard Gere in Bloodbrothers (1978) and appeared alongside Clint Eastwood in City Heat (1984).Lo Bianco kickstarted his film career with the cult classic The Honeymoon Killers (1970), with plenty of big screen work soon following.Outside of film, he was a successful stage actor, director and producer, starring in many Broadway productions including Moliere’s Tartuffe. He also directed eight productions and produced 25 more.In 1975, Lo Bianco won an Obie Award for his role in an Off-Broadway production of Yanks-3, Detroit-0, Top of the Seventh.He was also nominated for a Tony Award for his performance as Eddie Carbone in Arthur Miller’s A View from the Bridge.Elsewhere, Lo Bianco starred as heavyweight champion Rocky Marciano in Marciano (1979) and later appeared in many tough guy roles in films including City of Hope (1991), Boiling Point (1993) and The Juror (1996).Later in life, Lo Bianco appeared in a number of popular TV series, including Murder, She Wrote and Law And Order.Away from acting, Lo Bianco was also a Golden Gloves boxer.

Tony Lo Bianco, who played the key role of Sal Boca in Best Picture Oscar winner The French Connection and appeared in more than 100 films and TV shows during a 60-year screen career, died Tuesday of prostate cancer at his home in Maryland. He was 87.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Ankama, the French company behind the cult favorite adult animated feature “Mutafukaz” and video game franchises such as “Dofus” and “Wakfu,” has acquired a minority stake in Inthebox, a thriving Annecy-based animation studio. The alliance will allow Ankama to “fast-track its production pipeline and benefit from Inthebox’s expertise with different techniques, such as 3D animation,” Ankama’s co-founder Anthony Roux told Variety in a conversation with Inthebox’s co-founders Mathieu Marin and Madjid Chamekh (pictured).

Ben Croll After closing out last month’s Cannes competition, Michel Hazanavicius’ “The Most Precious of Cargoes” opened this year’s Annecy Animation Festival on an auspicious note. With French productions accounting for one half of Annecy’s 12 competition slots, the Alpine showcase doubles a show of force for Gallic filmmakers writ large – a fact made all the more impressive given their sector’s relative youth.

Anna Marie de la Fuente Eurozoom, a leading French distributor for Japanese animation, has forged a strategic partnership with major French animation producer Special Touch Studios, led by founder and CEO Sebastien Onomo. “We both share the same passion for animation and want to tell bold stories with a particular attention to professional diversity,” said Eurozoom’s CEO-Founder Amel Lacombe, who added that they were jointly working on a six-animation feature lineup. Leading the pack is “Melvile,” directed by Romain Renard and Fursy Teyssier.

Young Miko has new hair to spend her days in the sun with. On Monday, the Puerto Rican rapper shared a gallery of photos on her Instagram where she has 7.2 million followers, debuting red hair.A post shared by baby miko (@itsyoungmiko)Miko’s blue eyes pop with the new hair, and from the sweet smile she has on her face, she is enjoying the new look.

In a scene worthy of one of his animated works, Terry Gillam took to a stage covered in crashed paper planes at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival on Sunday to receive its honorary Cristal award and give a masterclass about his animated works.

The stars of Despicable Me 4 stepped out for the New York City premiere a full month before the movie hits theaters!

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent In the run up to Annecy Animation Film Festival, French studio Gaumont has appointed Sébastien Rossi as creative director for its Kids & Family division, and unveiled a flurry of new shows. Rossi, who was previously head of CG at the company, will take part in the development and production of internationally-driven series and movies from France and Europe under his new role.

Sony Pictures Television’s (SPT) long-serving French sales exec Noemie Weisse is retiring after three decades at the U.S. outfit, with SPT expanding Zelda Stewart‘s role.

Michael Schneider Variety Editor at Large ABC series “High Potential” is getting a shift at the top, as showrunner Rob Thomas has departed the project, Variety has learned. The series, which stars Kaitlin Olson, is set to air Tuesdays at 10 p.m.

, and now has tried on the It girl crop for size.On June 3, EmRata was spotted filming a new Netflix series Too Much in New York City, sporting a shoulder-length bob and wispy bangs. To be fair, this appears to be a wig Ratajkowski is wearing specifically for the role, as it doesn’t look as though she actually went through with a full chop. Doesn’t make it any less on-trend, though.To go with her Amélie-esque bob, Ratajkowski wore baggy knee-length jorts with a drawstring and a black mesh tee under a fuzzy green knit vest.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Gizmodo, the 22-year-old tech news site, is the latest asset sold by G/O Media, which has been steadily shedding media properties for more than a year. Gizmodo’s new owner is Keleops, a European online tech-media company with offices in Switzerland and Paris, France, that was originally founded 10 years ago as a performance-marketing firm.

Ankama-backed animation company Studio Unagi has officially launched in Montreal after setting up under the radar over the first half of 2024.

Justice have announced new dates for their forthcoming North American tour – check out the full list of dates and ticket info below.The French electronic duo – who will hit the road in support of their fourth album ‘Hyperdrama’, released in April – have added new dates in October for their sojourn through the US and Canada.This follows initial dates previously announced for New York, Washington DC and Boston, all of which have since sold out. Their North American tour will now begin in New York City on July 25 and end in Chicago on October 23.

Paul Wesley and his girlfriend Natalie Kuckenburg are enjoying their time at the French Open!

Blue Sun Palace was one of the prize winners at the recently concluded Cannes Film Festival where it took the French Touch award of the Cannes Critics week selections (Simon Of The Mountains took the Grand Prize, the other major award from the section). French “Touch” is an ironic name for an award to a film where “touch” is key in several scenes depicted in the massage parlor setting where much of the movie takes place.

When Netflix released its latest major data set on Thursday — its second under the name of What We Watched: A Netflix Engagement Report — animated features continued to demonstrate a major impact for the streamer. Of the top 100 most viewed titles in the period of review, from July to December 2023, 33 were animated, bringing in a total of 1,087,600,000 views.