Amid the news this past summer that HBO Max has quietly removed some fan-favorite shows from the streaming service, did you know that some Netflix originals are missing as well?
27.09.2022 - 20:04 / variety.com
Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor OnlyFans has become synonymous with sexually explicit content and providing a way for adult creators to earn money online. Now the social-media platform wants to tickle some funny bones, as well. OnlyFans announced the launch of its Creative Fund: Comedy Edition, which will let creators in the U.K. and Ireland compete for the chance to win a total of £100,000 — more than $100,000 at current exchange rates — and appear in a reality-competition series on OFTV, its non-pornographic streaming service. While continuing to support adult performers, London-based OnlyFans stepped up efforts to recruit mainstream celebrities to its platform and expand into non-sexual genres. It recently ordered a reality show, slated to stream on OFTV, from British reality TV stars Chloe, Demi and Frankie Sims after their exit from “The Only Way Is Essex.”
For the OnlyFans Creative Fund: Comedy Edition, the competition will be shot for an original four-part series on OFTV, to debut in 2023. The winner will receive £50,000 cash and a “surprise experience,” with runner-up prizes of £25,000 each for second and third places. Eligible creators are invited to submit a five-minute clip of their comedy, which may include stand-up sets, comedy sketches or improv routines, at this link. The OnlyFans Creative Fund: Comedy Edition competition is open through Oct. 5 to residents 18 and older in the U.K. and Ireland. The entries will be judged by three comedians — London Hughes, Jamali Maddix and Mae Martin — who will select a shortlist of nine finalists. Those nine contestants will then face a series of challenges to be scored by the judges, culminating in a live performance at a London comedy club. Comedian Sofie Hagen will
Amid the news this past summer that HBO Max has quietly removed some fan-favorite shows from the streaming service, did you know that some Netflix originals are missing as well?
Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Eric Welbers, who served as managing director of the production company NDF until the end of March, has set up the internationally focused content company Bravado Media, with headquarters in Munich. Bravado has acquired all of NDF’s shares in Italy’s Viola Film (an 80% stake), headed by Alessandro Passadore, and Belgium-based Bravado Fiction (also an 80% stake), headed by Jan Theys, and Welbers is increasing his stake in NDF Intl. Production, which he will continue to run together with Matthias Walter. The new company will make its first market appearance at next week’s trade fair for audiovisual content Mipcom in Cannes.
Jem Aswad Senior Music Editor TikTok parent ByteDance has begun talks with music labels about expanding its music-streaming service into more than a dozen markets in a move that would place it in direct competition with Spotify, Apple Music and other major streaming services, according to the Wall Street Journal. According to the report, the initial plan is to expand the company’s Resso service, which is currently only available in India, Indonesia and Brazil, into more than a dozen markets, although the U.S. is not said to be part of the next phase of expansion. The Journal’s sources say significant hurdles remain in the negotiations, but ByteDance wants the service to eventually be integrated within TikTok and to serve as a major platform for distributing music around the world.
Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Netflix has taken peak TV to a new peak. In a data point sure to fuel more quantity-versus-quality debate, Netflix broke its own record for number of original episodes released in a single quarter — with 1,026 in the third quarter of 2022, according to a tally by Wall Street firm MoffettNathanson. That’s more than five times any other streaming rival: Amazon Prime Video and Hulu released 223 and 194 episodes, respectively, and Disney+ debuted 140 original episodes, per the report. HBO Max, now owned by Warner Bros. Discovery, released 114 episodes in the third quarter — significantly fewer episodes than usual and comprising the lightest slate for the service since Q2 2020, the second quarter after launch. WBD has been paring back HBO Max’s content slate in recent months as it looks to cut costs.
Bill Murray allegedly engaged in on a film set earlier this year, claiming that Murray reached a monetary settlement with his accuser.Back in April, production on the comedy Being Mortal – roughly half of which had been shot under Disney’s Searchlight Pictures – was suspended. It was reported at the time that Murray would be investigated for his alleged behaviour, however details surrounding the allegation itself were kept under wraps.That changed slightly in May, when Murray himself opened up about the situation.
Ekin-Su Cülcüloğlu is being paid £100,000 to take part in Dancing on Ice next year, making her the highest-paid Lover Island star.
Jem Aswad Senior Music Editor One of the new honors the Grammy Awards will introduce at their next ceremony is song for social change — a special-merit award that “recognizes creators of message-driven music that responds to the social issues of our time and has the potential for positive global impact.” While the honor is “curated by a blue-ribbon committee,” there’s little question that the number of submissions will have an impact — and according to the Recording Academy, 95,000 of the 115,000 submissions received have been for Iranian musician Shervin Hajipour’s song, “Baraye,” a protest song about 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, who died in police custody after being arrested and beaten by Iran’s so-called morality police for not wearing a proper head covering, in line with the country’s Islamic law.
Chris Willman Senior Music Writer and Chief Music Critic Feeling like you’re having a hard time keeping up with all the new music that’s coming out? You’re not alone — even if you are, say, a computer and not just a mere mortal. Stats now show that an average of more than 100,000 songs are being uploaded to digital service providers every day. So don’t feel bad about not staying on top of things. If each of those 100K tunes lasted just three minutes (a conservative estimate by most standards), it would take over 30 years for one person to listen through all of the music released to and through DSPs in a day. New Music Friday? It’s more like New Music Nanosecond. The 100,000 daily figure was cited by the CEOs for both Universal Music Group and Warner Music Group at industry events in September, according to Music Business Worldwide, which used the staggering number as its Stat of the Week on Thursday.
Todrick Hall will need to pay.
Harry Styles is solidifying his place in the beauty industry! The singer’s skincare and nail polish brand, Pleasing, launched its first-ever makeup line.
Kendrick Sampson has launched BLD PWR Productions, a new production company that extends the impact of his advocacy initiative of the same name. The actor — best known for “Insecure,” “Miss Juneteenth,” “How to Get Away with Murder” and “The Vampire Diaries” — is the co-founder of BLD PWR, which helped to mobilize thousands of protesters during the #BlackLivesMatter movement of summer 2020 and organized industry leaders to sign a letter calling for Hollywood to divest from the police. “The days of begging for a seat are over. This is what building our own table looks like,” Sampson said in a press release announcing the launch. “We will continue to challenge those in power, but we recognize that it’s not Hollywood’s job to reimagine our future… we have always been experts at our own narratives and we are taking that power back.”
Constanza Arena, the former executive director of CinemaChile, has established Agencia La Luz, an agency and project incubator that will represent in international markets many of Chile’s foremost writing, directing and acting talents. Many writers are connected to Chile’s fast-growing premium drama/audio scene. Julio Rojas, one Agencia La Luz client, created and wrote “Case 63,” Spotify’s most-listened-to scripted original podcast in Latin America, with an English-language version I the works starring Julianne Moore and Oscar Isaac, and co-wrote Pablo Fendrik’s Latino sci-fi series ‘The Shelter,’ from Starzplay, Pantaya, Fabula, Fremantle.
Shudder, the streaming service for horror, has announced that they’ve acquired the psychological horror film Spoonful of Sugar ahead of its premiere at Fantastic Fest. The movie will premiere on the streaming platform in 2023 in the U.S., Canada, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand.
More than 100,000 people in part-time employment could face a benefit cut if they fail to properly look for more work, the Chancellor is set to announce in his mini-budget on Friday. Among a range of measures set to be revealed by Kwasi Kwarteng is a significant shake-up of the welfare system.
Naman Ramachandran Executive producer Mary Burke has launched production company Public Dreams Ltd, which aims to bring together the best of film and TV talent to produce distinctive, ambitious, commercial content for the British and global markets. Burke launches the company after five years as senior executive at the BFI Film Fund and 13 years at Warp Films where she amassed more than 40 TV and film credits including “Submarine,” “Saint Maud,” “Phantom of the Open,” “Brian and Charles,” “God’s Own Country,” “Colette” and “Ammonite.” She has won a BAFTA Scotland best feature award for “For Those in Peril” and a BAFTA Cymru in the same category for “Submarine.”
A toilet block has gone on the market in a Cheshire village where Harry Styles lived. The lavatory has been listed with an eye-watering £100,000 price tag in the Holmes Chapel area where the popstar grew up and worked.