Nicole Byer Reveals Casting Director Once Asked Her ‘Can You Be Blacker?’

Bulgaria has re-entered the International Film race for the 2023 Academy Awards with In the Heart of the Machine, directed by Martin Makariev.

Mother, the Bulgarian submission for this year’s International Feature Film Oscar race, has been deemed ineligible by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. The film’s director, Zornitsa Sophia, announced the decision on social media this week.

EXCLUSIVE: Nicole Byer (Nailed It!), Harvey Guillén (What We Do in the Shadows), Jessica Lowe (Minx), and Andrew Lewis Caldwell (Danger Force) will lead the ensemble cast of Comedy Central’s original movie Cursed Friends from Propagate and Will Arnett’s Electric Avenue. The film premieres on October 8 at 8 p.m ET/PT.

Mourning a friend. Tori Spelling is among the celebrities grieving casting director Scout Masterson, who died suddenly at age 48.

While she may not be a household name compared to the directors that she has worked for, Bonnie Timmermann’s IMDb reads as a decade-spanning watch list of some of the best films ever made.

Marta Balaga Casting director Bonnie Timmermann, behind such films as “Heat” and “Dirty Dancing,” finds herself on the opposite side of the camera in Venice doc “Bonnie,” directed by Simon Wallon. Brian Cox, Mark Ruffalo, Benicio del Toro and Melissa Leo are featured, while Kinology is handling sales. “It’s almost as if she was the one being auditioned. I wanted to treat her almost like a character in a movie. She is looking straight into the eyes of the audience,” says Wallon. Adapting to the new role was hard, Timmermann tells Variety in Venice, but luckily it came with some perks.

William Earl Zach Cregger has delivered one of the most twist-filled movies of the year with “Barbarian.” But perhaps the biggest shock to fans is that a member of irreverent sketch group Whitest Kids U’Know switched to horror so effortlessly. For Cregger, the two worlds are not far apart. “I don’t think horror and comedy are too dissimilar,” Cregger says. “The anatomy of a scare is very similar to the anatomy of a laugh. It’s all about timing and tone and zigging when the audience expects you to zag. I feel like my time in sketch comedy has equipped me to play in this pool.” Cregger got advice from a friend who had a similar trajectory: Jordan Peele, who went from sketch comedy series “Key & Peele” to directing his breakout feature “Get Out” and two other horror hits.

Nicole Byer is confirming a big rumor.

Brie Larson sparkles in a silver jumpsuit at the premiere of Disney+’s Growing Up series held at NeueHouse Hollywood on Wednesday (September 7) in Los Angeles.

Emiliano De Pablos Launched early May, the Spain Audiovisual Bureau acts as a facilitator for the production sector, attending enquiries about international markets, handling information about processing filming permits and providing tax incentives information. A ground-breaking development in Spain, the Bureau marks a first-ever effort to coordinate public and private entities related to the international presence of the Spanish film and TV production industry. The Spain Audiovisual Bureau represents an innovation of the Spain AVS Hub, an initiative launched in March 2021 by the Spanish government with a €1.6 billion ($1.6 billion) budget to power up local film and TV production and encourage big foreign players to shoot and set up production centers in the country.

Manori Ravindran International Editor More than a year since SkyShowtime was first announced, the SVOD is ready to join the streaming fray in Europe, Variety can reveal. The new platform — a joint venture between Comcast and Paramount Global that was first unveiled in August 2021 — will officially launch on Sept. 20 in the Nordic countries of Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden, before expanding into the Netherlands later this year in Q4. (The service received regulatory approval in Europe back in February.) Meanwhile, the SVOD will continue its roll out across Spain, Portugal, Andorra, and Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) over the coming months and through Q1 of 2023. CEE markets include Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Hungary, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia and Slovenia.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent After taking a break from his filmmaking career to preside over the French film promotion org Unifrance, Jean-Paul Salomé has made a big comeback with a pair of films with Oscar-nominated French actor Isabelle Huppert. The latest one, “The Sitting Duck,” is world premiering at Venice in the Horizons section. Adapted from Caroline Michel-Aguirre’s book “La Syndicaliste,” “The Sitting Duck” tells the true story of Maureen Kearney, the head union representative of a French multinational nuclear powerhouse who becomes a whistleblower, denouncing top-secret deals that shook the French nuclear sector. One day, Kearney is found in her home, tied to a chair, the letter “A” carved into her abdomen, and a knife handle inserted into her vagina. Traumatized, she has no memory of the assault. However, after an investigation, the police accused her of staging the attack herself.

K.J. Yossman The makers of hit Netflix series “The Crown” have revealed who is set to play Prince William and Kate Middleton in season six.

Brea Baker has been tapped as Chief Equity Officer at social impact firm and creative house Inspire Justice.

Jazz Tangcay Artisans Editor Amanda Mackey, the award winning casting director behind films such as “A League of Their Own” and “Smokin’ Aces” has died. She was 70. “We are heartbroken to hear about the passing of Casting Director Amanda Mackey. She was an inspiration to many in our field and everyone at CSA sends our condolences to her family and friends,” the Casting Society said in a statement. Mackey was recognized by The Casting Society with an Artios Awards for both films. Her other credits include “Bad Moms,” “United 93,” “Ronin” and “The Hunt for Red October.”She received an Emmy nomination in 2014 for Outstanding Casting for a Miniseries, Movie or a Special for “The Normal Heart” which she shared with casting partner Cathy Sandrich Gelfond.

The plot thickens. There’s another person in the Selling Sunset universe Jason Oppenheim has dated: new cast member Nicole Young.

Amanda Mackey, the casting director behind such films as Best Picture Oscar nominee The Fugitive and A League of Their Own and who earned an Emmy nom for The Normal Heart during a nearly four-decade career, has died. She was 70.

Amanda Mackay, the casting director behind Best Picture Oscar winner Gladiator and nominee The Fugitive who earned an Emmy nom for The Normal Heart and cast hundreds films and TV shows during a nearly four-decade career, has died. She was 70.