Cynthia Littleton Latest Celebrity News & Gossip

Cynthia Littleton Business Editor Mother’s Day weekend 2019 marked a turning point in the young life of Madhuri Shekar. It all started two years before with a phone call from a woman named Kate Navin, then head of theater for Audible. Navin said she’d recently been armed with money to develop original works from emerging play- wrights, and she was calling to offer Shekar, just a year out of Juilliard, the chance to write.

Cynthia Littleton Business Editor HarbourView Equity Partners has made an investment in Mucho Mas Media, the Los Angeles-based content company behind the new golf-themed movie “The Long Game.” The deal calls for HarbourView Equity to executive produce films with Mucho Mas co-CEOs Javier Chapa and Vincent Cordero. With HarbourView’s investment, Mucho Mas intends to expand the scope of its activity in film and TV.

Cynthia Littleton Business Editor Chris Keyser and David Goodman, the veteran showrunners who steered the five-month Writers Guild of America strike last year, warned guild members on Sunday to stay vigilant in a fast-changing business landscape despite the gains of last year’s historic labor action. “Though this strike is over, the fight goes on. If we take our eye off the ball, everything we gained can literally go away tomorrow,” Goodman told the crowd at the Writers Guild Awards at the Hollywood Palladium.

Cynthia Littleton Business Editor The premiere week of Netflix’s “Ripley” elbowed “3 Body Problem” out of the No. 1 slot among streaming original series for the week of April 5-11, according to Luminate streaming ratings. Among streaming original movies, “Scoop” managed a solid break for Netflix while Amazon Prime Video’s “Road House” hung tough in its third full week in release.

Cynthia Littleton Business Editor Medium Rare, the live events and management company behind such franchises as Travis Kelce’s Kelce Jam and Shaquille O’Neal’s Fun House carnival-style festival, has received an investment from Palm Tree Crew that values the company at $50 million. Financial details about the size of the investment were not disclosed. Palm Tree Crew is an event, artists management and holding company that invests in firms that complement its core activities, which include the Palm Tree Music Festival.

Cynthia Littleton Business Editor Think the market for adult-focused specialty films is dead? Peter Kujawski, chairman of Focus Features, explains why you’re wrong on the latest episode of Variety podcast “Strictly Business.” As the film biz gathers in Las Vegas this week for CinemaCon, Kujawski, an industry veteran who has headed NBCUniversal’s Focus Features unit since 2016, discusses the state of moviemaking and exhibition and he walks through the key lessons learned from the strike-challenged 2023 box office. Takeaway No.

Cynthia Littleton Business Editor Charter Communications is about to play a guest-star role in the corporate drama surrounding Paramount Global. As if Shari Redstone’s media empire wasn’t under enough pressure, Paramount Global now is in the final few weeks of its most recent carriage agreement with Charter, the nation’s second largest cable operator behind Comcast. The two companies are in renewal discussions, the outcome of which will have significant influence on Paramount’s ability to deliver the free cash flow that media investors are expecting from the company that has lately posted big losses on streaming operations.

Cynthia Littleton Business Editor Ari Wallach has made his living as a professional futurist for more than 20 years. What does that mean? “I work with really large organizations, mostly helping them think about tomorrow — the far-off tomorrows,” Wallach explains on the latest episode of Variety podcast “Strictly Business.” Wallach’s forward-looking intellect is on display in the new PBS docu series “A Brief History of the Future,” which premiered April 3 on PBS in the U.S. He hosts the series and is an executive producer with Kathryn Murdoch, Wendy Schmidt and DreamCrew, the production banner headed by hip hop superstar Drake.

Cynthia Littleton Business Editor In the end, Bob Iger didn’t have to break a sweat to fend off Nelson Peltz. No question, Disney did have to spend tens of millions of dollars to fight the proxy battle with the activist investor, which came to a head on Wednesday with the Mouse House’s annual shareholders meeting.

Cynthia Littleton Business Editor Paramount Global and its parent company are moving closer to an agreement with Skydance Media for an exclusive window for acquisition negotiations as Shari Redstone and David Ellison inch toward a deal to bring their companies together in a three-way transaction. The New York Times on Tuesday reported on the rumors that have been swirling around Hollywood for the past few days.

Cynthia Littleton Business Editor No matter who prevails next Sunday at the NCAA’s championship game, 2024’s March Madness will go down in history as a milestone moment for women’s sports. Not just in the college basketball realm — but for female athletes overall. In a perfect storm, the annual bracket-bonkers frenzy around the NCAA college basketball tournament has conferred a level of respect to the women’s game that is rarely been seen across sports media, but for the quadrennial exception of the Women’s World Cup.

Cynthia Littleton Business Editor The latest twist in the battle between UTA and former MediaLink chairman-CEO Michael Kassan is a defamation lawsuit filed by Kassan against UTA attorney Bryan Freedman. Kassan has sued Freedman for slander and libel stemming from a statement that the lawyer made earlier this week to Deadline, which is a sibling publication to Variety under Penske Media Corp. Kassan and UTA parted ways earlier this month amid a flurry of litigation and arbitration filings and heated accusations from both sides.

Cynthia Littleton Business Editor Hernan Lopez, the former 21st Century Fox executive who launched podcasting giant Wondery in 2016, has set up consulting firm Owl & Co. aimed at delivering data and analysis designed to help media and entertainment businesses manage the transition to the streaming era. Lopez has put early emphasis on a deep-dive study of the streaming content marketplace, using available viewership and spending data to crunch the ROI numbers based on the cost of TV series and movies.

William Earl Disney Entertainment Television marketing president Shannon Ryan has been selected as the inaugural recipient of the Variety Entertainment Marketing Icon Award, to be presented April 24 as part of Variety’s Entertainment Marketing Summit, presented by Deloitte, in Los Angeles. Ryan is being recognized for her long track record of innovative marketing and promotional campaigns during her long tenure at Fox and Disney.

Cynthia Littleton Business Editor The Ides of March were marked this year by a three-way race among high profile filmmakers – Peter Farrelly, Doug Liman and Guy Ritchie – with original streaming film and TV series debuts across Netflix and Amazon Prime Video. But the sleeper success story of the week belonged to Netflix’s Lindsay Lohan rom com movie “Irish Wish.” Ritchie made a splashy debut on March 7 with Netflix’s “The Gentlemen,” an eight-episode TV heist drama delivered in the director’s signature style.

Cynthia Littleton Business Editor A federal judge has dismissed the antitrust lawsuit that DirecTV filed against Nexstar last year accusing the TV station giant of price-fixing in connection with its retransmission consent negotiations with the satellite TV platform. DirecTV’s suit, filed in New York’s Southern District in March 2023, accused Nexstar of engaging in price-fixing activity around the retransmission consent fees from MVPDs that have become a key source of revenue for local station owners.

Cynthia Littleton Business Editor John Oates carefully sidestepped the elephant in the room on Wednesday during his keynote conversation at SXSW, even as the veteran hitmaker offered anecdotes and pearls of wisdom from his more than 50 years in the music business. Oates made no overt mention to the lawsuit and enmity that has erupted between him and longtime professional partner Daryl Hall during his hourlong Q&A, held at the Austin Convention Center as part of the SXSW festival in Austin, Texas.

Cynthia Littleton Business Editor Daisy Ridley took a moment during the post-premiere Q&A for her indie thriller “Magpie” at SXSW on Saturday night to reflect on the journey of bringing the film to life. “I remember the first day on set when I saw the trailers saying ‘Oh my god, we’re making a film.’ Now, I feel like, ‘Oh my god, we’re here,’ ” Ridley said after “Magpie” had its world premeire at the State Theater in Austin, Texas. “Magpie” hails from Bateman’s Werewolf Films, 55 Films and Align.

Cynthia Littleton Business Editor Issues around the use of AI in the production process is the big sticking point in SAG-AFTRA’s negotiations with the largest video game companies, SAG-AFTRA chief Duncan Crabtree-Ireland said Saturday during a wide-ranging Q&A at SXSW in Austin, Texas. Crabtree-Ireland, who is national executive director and chief negotiator of the performers union, said he put the chances of union members striking against key game companies is “50-50, or more likely than that we will go on strike in the next four to six weeks because of our inability to get past these issues,” Crabtree-Ireland told Brendan Vaughan, editor-in-chief of Fast Company, during a conversation focused on AI.

Cynthia Littleton Business Editor Former Verve CEO Bill Weinstein has filed a lawsuit against the talent agency, alleging that he was improperly ousted from the company on Feb. 19 by two partners who are looking to sell the company.

Cynthia Littleton Business Editor The inevitable M&A question came toward the end of Paramount Global‘s hourlong conference call with Wall Street analysts on Wednesday — a session that undoubtedly would have been more contentious for Paramount leaders if they hadn’t started out by serving up sacrifices for the greater good of free cash flow and profit. Paramount Global CEO Bob Bakish waved off the inquiry from Bank of America Merrill Lynch media analyst Jessica Reif Ehrlich about the tidal wave of media speculation about suitors coming (and going) for the company with a breezy “We’re always looking for ways to create shareholder value.” But it was clear from the earlier commentary and business updates from Bakish and chief financial officer Naveen Chopra that they are charting a course for this year and next to take streamer Paramount+ to the promised land of profitability and keeps the company entact as a standalone entity.

Cynthia Littleton Business Editor Endeavor‘s fourth-quarter results reflected the company’s growth in sports through the acquisition of WWE last September, but its bottom line was hit by nearly $30 million in legal and restructuring costs and $47 million in write-offs from its Events, Experiences and Rights division. Last year Endeavor also paid out $101 million in advisory fees and bonuses related to the WWE merger with Endeavor’s UFC as well as the sale of its IMG Academy business.

Cynthia Littleton Business Editor The contract talks finally reached the handshake point at 3 a.m. PT on Feb. 23.

Cynthia Littleton Business Editor UFC and WWE logged record revenue and sponsorship deals in 2023, which added up to a strong fourth quarter for TKO, the newly formed parent company of both sports brands. The strong numbers for WWE stand in contrast to the controversy that erupted last month when disturbing sexual assault allegations were leveled against former WWE chairman Vince McMahon in a lawsuit by a former WWE employee.

Cynthia Littleton Business Editor David Zaslav came to market Friday morning with a fourth-quarter earnings report that delivered enviable free cash flow and put another sizable dent in Warner Bros. Discovery’s heavy debt load. But it wasn’t enough to stop a 10% slide for the company’s already battered share price that took place minutes after the results were unveiled.

Cynthia Littleton Business Editor Judi Pulver, a singer-songwriter who became the top music sales executive for Variety and The Hollywood Reporter, died Tuesday in Santa Monica, Calif. She was 77. Pulver spent about 15 years with Variety, steering all music-related sales and marketing activity.

Cynthia Littleton Business Editor Bill Weinstein has exited Verve talent agency after a little more than a year as CEO and 14 years after he helped launch the literary boutique on the heels of Endeavor’s takeover of the William Morris Agency. The parting was confirmed late Monday by Verve in a statement. “We thank Bill as a co-founder and for his 14 years of service and wish him nothing but success in his future,” read a statement attributed to “Verve leadership.” The agency also confirmed that Weinstein’s role as CEO would not be filled but rather “shared by the founders and managing partner.” Weinstein could not immediately be reached for comment.

Cynthia Littleton Business Editor Leslie Moonves, the ousted former leader of CBS Corp. whose storied career came to an abrupt end in 2018 amid the disclosure of past sexual assault allegations, has been ordered to pay a $11,250 fine by the Los Angeles City Ethics Commission for his role in a 2017 LAPD scandal connected to his downfall at CBS. In 2017, as CBS’ leader was increasingly consumed with dodging accusations of past sexual misconduct from multiple women, he was tipped off to a police report filed in November 2017 by one of those accusers.

William Earl Variety veteran Todd Spangler has been promoted to Business Editor, overseeing coverage of corporate and financial news, mergers and acquisitions and other deal activity for media and entertainment’s largest conglomerates. Spangler will also continue to drive Variety‘s coverage of digital media and Silicon Valley tech giants. Based in New York, Spangler is a pillar of daily breaking news coverage.

William Earl Carolyn Giardina, award-winning journalist and author, has joined Variety and Variety VIP+ as Senior Entertainment Technology & Crafts Editor as Variety expands its coverage of the fast-evolving production technology landscape as well as the Artisans sector. Giardina has devoted her career to covering the art and science of entertainment and brings to her new role a wealth of knowledge of entertainment technology and the creative arts, as well as film history.

Cynthia Littleton Business Editor Producer Tom Werner and the team behind ABC sitcom “The Conners” have reason to smile. The series independently produced by Werner Entertainment has been sold in syndication by distributor Debmar-Mecury to TV station groups representating 85% of U.S. TV households.

Cynthia Littleton Business Editor She’s the reason that rising female stars are often called “the It girl.” She starred in the first movie to win an Oscar for best picture. By 1930, she’d made in 45 movies in six years. By 1933, after struggles with men and mental illness, Clara Bow’s Hollywood career was over.

Cynthia Littleton Business Editor The Kansas City Chiefs are headed to the Super Bowl again. The NFL’s dominant team of the past few years defeated the Baltimore Ravens 17-10 in Baltimore on Sunday, nabbing the AFC championship trophy and securing the team’s fourth Super Bowl berth since 2020. The Chiefs’ opponents in the Feb.

Cynthia Littleton Business Editor Premieres of new and returning TV shows fell sharply last year while the number of movies getting a theatrical wide release went way up. The volume of TV programs in the true crime genre went through the roof and non-English language films are becoming a bedrock of streaming platforms. Those are among the notable content trends documented in the 2023 Year-End Film and TV Report released today by Luminate, the entertainment data and insights firm.

Variety Staff Follow Us on Twitter Variety.com was the highest-ranking entertainment business news site every single month in 2023. The online home of legacy brand and weekly entertainment business magazine Variety scored record-breaking traffic last year. An average of 29.1 million unique users visited the site each month in 2023 — and Variety reached a bigger digital audience than consumer news publications such as Vanity Fair and Entertainment Weekly, as measured by unique visitors according to ComScore.

Cynthia Littleton Business Editor The NFL delivered for NBCUniversal streamer Peacock on Saturday as the exclusive Wild Card playoff game between the Miami Dolphins and Kansas City Chiefs drew an average audience of about 23 million viewers. NBCUniversal shelled out megabucks to secure the first-ever NFL playoff game to run exclusively on a streaming platform, with the exception of broadcast TV coverage on the NBC affliates in Miami and Kansas City. NBCUniversal reported Sunday that game viewership peaked at an average of 24.6 million in the game’s second quarter, from 9:15 p.m.-9:30 p.m.