‘Paramount Global Summit on Disability’ To Spotlight Need For Greater Inclusion

Kanye West is taking his frustrations to the streets!

Spun Gold To “Reimagine” BAFTA Coverage

Kerry Condon has had a weekend. After a 4 AM flight from Savannah, Georgia, and a transfer no less, she’s about to participate in another post-screening Q&A for her new film, Martin McDonagh‘s already celebrated “The Banshees of Inisherin.” This conversation is in Los Angeles and the audience this time around is working (and voting) Screen Actor’s Guild members.

Endeavor’s IMG global events group has sold The Miss Universe Organization to Thailand-based JKN Global Media.

Barunson E&A, the production company behind Oscar-winner Parasite, is set to officially launch its new international ventures at the upcoming American Film Market as it looks to expand into co-production, financing and sales.

Volatile ESPN pundit Stephen A. Smith unleashed on Kanye West today, asking whether Jewish people helped him or hurt him in his business deals.

Days before a Targaryen civil war erupts between Rhaenyra and Alicent on the Season 1 finale of HBO’s House of the Dragon, you’ll find series creator George R.R. Martin staying mum on fire-breathing animals and talking up his latest rotoscope animated short, Night of the Cooters, in his Santa Fe, NM stomping ground.

Thania Garcia The top of the U.S. album and singles charts remain unchanged this week, with Bad Bunny’s “Un Verano Sin Ti” keeping at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 for a 14th non-consecutive week and Steve Lacy’s “Bad Habit” reigning at No. 1 on the Hot 100 for a third week in a row. “Un Verano” now ties Drake’s “Views” (2016) and Disney’s “Frozen” soundtrack (2014) for the most weeks at the summit in the past decade. Adele’s “21” scored a total of 24 weeks at No. 1 back in 2011 and 2012. “Un Verano” remains at the top with the equivalent of 84,000 units sold in the United States, according to Luminate via Billboard. Lacy’s “Bad Habit,” fueled largely by its command on streaming services and TikTok, holds its No. 1 streak on the singles chart with 42.3 million radio airplay audience impressions (up by 4% from last week) and 20.1 million streams.

Mike Wass Disbelief colors Kim Petras’ voice when asked about her reaction to the global success of “Unholy.” After searching for the right words, she lands on “fever dream.” While the reality of having the biggest song in the world might not have sunk in yet, the numbers don’t lie. In addition to being No. 1 on Billboard’s Global 200, the unapologetic collaboration with Sam Smith has topped the charts in multiple countries including the U.K., Australia, and Canada, and is looking to do the same in the U.S. — looming large at No. 2 on the Hot 100. While “Unholy” seemingly blew up overnight, it was actually five years in the making. “Sam reached out pretty early in my career,” the German pop star explains in her lightly accented English. As a fan, she was eager to make it happen, but the right song never came along until Smith sent her a demo of “Unholy.” “I knew I could add something special to it,” Petras says. “A week later, we were in the studio drinking whiskey and coming up with slutty lyrics.”

Jem Aswad Senior Music Editor Grammy and Oscar winning singer-songwriter Sam Smith has announced their fourth studio album, “Gloria,” will be released on January 27, 2023 via Capitol Records. Made with longtime collaborators Jimmy Napes, Stargate and Max Martin stablemate Ilya, the album is described in the announcement as “not only a creative revelation but something of a personal revolution for the celebrated artist. Lyrically, the subjects dive deep and wide, into contemporary narratives around sex, lies, passion, self-expression and imperfection.” Smith says, “It feels like emotional, sexual and spiritual liberation. It was beautiful, with this album, to sing freely again. Oddly, it feels like my first-ever record. And it feels like a coming of age.”

Andrea Iervolino’s Social Media App TaTaTu Lists On Euronext

Emiliano De Pablos Globoplay, the streaming platform of Latin American TV giant Globo, has picked up Brazilian rights to police noir thriller series “Motel Valkirias,” a Spain-Portugal co-production handled by Onza Distribution.  Created by Ghaleb Jaber Martínez, writer-producer of Netflix’s Galician TV drama hit “O Sabor das Margaridas,” the series is directed by Álex Sampaio (Schibare”) and Jorge Quiroga (“Atras das Nuvens”). In post-production, the eight episode 50-minute “Motel Valkirias” is set in a cross-border motel between Galicia and Portugal, following three women with financial and personal problems who get in serious danger after joining forces to get their hands on some valuable merchandise from a guest in the motel.

Sam Smith and Kim Petras reign atop the Official Singles Chart for a third consecutive week with their hit Unholy.  

A disability advocate told Buzzfeed News on Wednesday that NBC's interview with Democratic Senate candidate John Fetterman will increase "violence" against disabled people.  "The way Burns handled that interview will only worsen attitudes and violence towards disabled people in a time when virtual accommodations are being removed left and right after they were implemented overnight in 2020," Charis Hill told the outlet.  Hill called on NBC to apologize for "overt discrimination."  NBC reporter Dasha Burns' interview with Fetterman aired on Tuesday. While previewing the interview on MSNBC's "Katy Tur Reports", Burns said Fetterman had "a hard time understanding what he’s hearing." Fetterman used closed-captioning during the interview.  John Fetterman, lieutenant governor of Pennsylvania and Democratic senate candidate, speaks during a campaign rally in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, US, on Saturday, Oct. 1, 2022.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Chinese filmmaker, Bi Gan, best-known for his single-take feature “Long Day’s Journey Into Night” has seen his “A Short Story” picked up by Kino Lorber for distribution in North America. A fairy tale that follows the relationship between man and cat, the film had its world premiere in competition at the 2022 Cannes Film Festival and now has its North American premiere in the Currents section of the New York Film Festival. Kino Lorber plans to qualify “A Short Story” for the 96th Academy Awards, showing it theatrically nationwide in early 2023 in tandem with a theatrical re-release of “Long Day’s Journey Into Night.” “Kino Lorber rarely acquires short films, but Bi Gan has packed more cinematic delight into the fifteen minutes of ‘A Short Story’ than many feature length films deliver in two hours,” said Kino Lorber SVP Wendy Lidell. The deal was brokered by Les Films du Losange.

Rebecca Souw Achieving a balance between artistic creativity and commercial appeal has been a key component of the success of the Korean film and TV industries, said senior executives at the Asin Contents & Film Market, held this week as part of the Busan International Film Festival. Leading U.S. producer Ted Hope said that “Being audience focused but ambitiously creating authored work,” is significant and that Korean filmmakers are able to tap into a wide range of emotions. Yang Yoomin, a Korean producer who has worked with hit filmmaker Yeon Sang-ho, explained why such a discussion was important. She gave the examples of the Hong Kong and Japanese film industries which have both at times enjoyed international success, but which have recently been eclipsed. Hope said that Hong Kong films and Japanese animation are at opposite ends of the spectrum stretching from commerce and art films, but said that Korean stories demonstrate a balance between authorship and audience-focused approaches.

Jem Aswad Senior Music Editor Creative Artists Agency (CAA) has promoted Jenna Park Adler to co-head of the agency’s global hip-hop/R&B touring group, alongside current head Mark Cheatham.  Adler personally reps artists across multiple genres as well as hip-hop and R&B, with a client roster that includes Jennifer Lopez, Doja Cat, Charli XCX, Green Day, Chloe x Halle, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Deftones, and Mark Ronson, among many others. She played a key role in Doja Cat’s rise, architected Green Day’s “Hella Mega” tour and helped Lopez develop her multi-dimensional businesses. “Jenna’s an undeniable force in the business and an invaluable member of the CAA team, brilliantly delivering for artists across genres,” said CAA Co-Head of North American Music Darryl Eaton.  “Mark and Jenna bring an incredible level of energy, experience and strategic vision to our industry-leading Hip-Hop/R&B group.  Under their leadership, the future is very bright.”