Jennifer Maas Latest Celebrity News & Gossip

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer Sundance turns 40 this year and AMC Networks is celebrating the film festival’s big 4-0 with the release of a curated lineup of dozens of movies that previously debuted at the event, including “Birth/Rebirth,” “Sleeping with Other People,” “Savage Grace” and “Heathers,” for streamer AMC+. A long-time sponsor of the Sundance Film Festival with roots in indie films through IFC Films and now horror-focused streamer Shudder, whcih is debuting Chris Nash’s “In A Violent Nature” at the fest this year, AMC Networks will be offering the compilation of Sundance movies all through January, in connection with the 2024 edition of the film festival running Jan.

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer Sony Pictures Entertainment general counsel Leah Weil is exiting her role after almost three decades with the company. The longtime senior executive vice president is the studio’s most senior legal advisor with oversight across film and TV production, acquisition and distribution, media networks, digital content creation and distribution, operation of studio facilities and development of new entertainment offerings.

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer Gersh has acquired A3 Artists Agency‘s digital and alternative departments. As part of the deal, 25 agents and 45 additional staffers will move to Gersh under a new standalone digital business. For the new setup, Jade Sherman will run the department, heading things up as senior partner and chief of digital.

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer “Hogwarts Legacy” crossed 22 million copies sold by the end of 2023, with approximately 2 million of those units selling during the December holiday season, according to Warner Bros. Games. “But it’s not just the unit sold that I’m so proud of, it’s just that it delighted the fans so much,” Warner Bros.

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer Jo Koy kicked off his first-ever Golden Globes hosting gig Sunday with a monologue that referenced the size of “Saltburn” star Barry Keoghan’s penis and Ozempic in front of top Hollywood talent, drawing a mixed response for his jokes. “Some I wrote, some other people wrote,” the standup comedian said after one of his lines fell a little flat.

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer Warner Bros. Discovery corporate communications chief Nathaniel Brown is exiting the company. CEO David Zaslav announced the news in a memo to staff Friday.

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer Hollywood got back on its feet on Wall Street this year, and if it wants to remain on solid ground in 2024 — or even climb a few steps higher — it needs to look beyond what movies and TV shows were the greatest hits. The biz is overdue when it comes to keeping an eye on the video game titles consumers poured their time into over the past 12 months.

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer Lionsgate closed its $375 million acquisition of studio Entertainment One (eOne) from toy company Hasbro Wednesday. The deal adds 6,500 film and television titles to Lionsgate’s existing library, including Showtime hit “Yellowjackets,” ABC’s “The Rookie” and Discovery’s “Naked & Afraid” franchise.

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer Hollywood had a rough year in many areas — but the stock market largely was not one of them. Wall Street is poised to finish out 2023 up double digits: As of Dec. 27, the S&P 500 index has climbed 25% year to date and is nearing an all-time high record close.

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer The New York Times is suing OpenAI and Microsoft, the creators of ChatGPT and other A.I. platforms, over copyright infringement, claiming the companies are responsible for “billions of dollars in statutory and actual damages.” The suit, filed Wednesday in Federal District Court in Manhattan, does not include a specific monetary demand but does assert the above-mentioned claim that Microsoft and OpenAI are responsible for billions in damages, and also demands that any chatbot models and data that pulled copyrighted work from The Times be dismantled.

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer Mega media merger mania is once again afoot in Hollywood with very, very early talks between Warner Bros. Discovery‘s David Zaslav and Paramount Global’s Bob Bakish about a potential merger of the two companies. Analysts and industry sources have already raised a number of questions about what a WBD-Paramount combo would look like and the effect it could have on the larger TV and film landscape.

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer Legendary wildlife host Jack “Jungle Jack” Hanna’s TV franchise library, including 400 episodes of “Jack Hanna‘s Into the Wild” and “Jack Hanna’s Wild Countdown” has been acquired by Hearst Media Production Group. Hearst is the longtime distributor of Hanna’s series, previously owned by Into The Wild, LLC, and already held ownership of “Jack Hanna’s Animal Adventures” and in 2021 launched the Jack Hanna Channel, a FAST channel showcasing hundreds of episodes of Hanna’s adventures in the wild.

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer Gamer and social media star Tyler “Ninja” Blevins is hosting his own New Year’s Eve special targeted at a Gen Z audience. Titled “Ninja’s NYE,” the event that will be streamed across Blevins’ Twitch, YouTube and TikTok channels is described as “a unique alternative live entertainment option geared toward gaming and digitally native audiences for New Year’s Eve.” Special guest stars that will be featured in the special include fellow web stars TimTheTattman, SypherPK, DrLupo, BasicallyIDoWrk and LEGIQN.

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer “One Piece” is about to become an anime series — again. On the heels of the immense success of the first season of its live-action “One Piece” TV series, Netflix has teamed with “One Piece” creator Eiichiro Oda, publisher Shueisha, Fuji Television Network and Toei Animation Co.

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer Nissa Diederich, 20th Television‘s head of production, will step down from her position after nearly 25 years as an executive with 20th TV, Fox 21 Television Studios and its successors. Most recently, she spent the past three years as an executive VP.

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer Fox’s ad-supported streamer Tubi has struck a deal with Warner Bros. Discovery to stream DC movies including “The Batman,” “Suicide Squad,” “Black Adam,” “Wonder Woman” and “Aquaman,” as well as superhero series “Batwoman,” “Gotham” and “Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman.” The above film titles, as well as “Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn),” “Green Lantern” and “Wonder Woman 1984,” will hit Tubi’s on-demand lineup in 2024.

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer It’s hard to measure the full impact of the Hollywood strikes — mainly because the TV and film industry will be facing the ripple effects for years to come — but a new study has revealed one significant immediate hit: 17% of Los Angeles-based showbiz workers lost their jobs during the work stoppages. According to the Otis College of Art and Design’s study, the first released under the college’s ongoing Otis College Report on the Creative Economy, following the WGA (which ran May 2-Sept.

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer ABC Signature head of creative affairs Tracy Underwood has been elevated to president of the Disney-owned TV studio. Underwood, who has been at the studio since 2010, will be filling the role vacated in July by Jonnie Davis. Davis was named president of ABC Signature (then ABC Studios) in July 2019 in the wake of the 21st Century Fox-Disney merger.

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer Warner Bros. Discovery cable warrior Kathleen Finch is heading into her Super Bowl: the holiday season at Food Network.

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer Peacock is closing out 2023 with some good news: The Comcast-owned streaming service has reached 30 million paid subscribers. Additionally, according to Comcast CEO Mike Cavanagh, the platform saw $2.8 billion in losses this year (coming in under the $3 billion projected by the company back in January), and Cavanagh expects that figure to be the peak losses for Peacock as we head into 2024.

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer “Kids Baking Championship” is cooking up a 12th season at Food Network and this installment of the Valerie Bertinelli and Duff Goldman-hosted competition will come with a whole new culinary curriculum for its young contestants. The fresh batch of episodes will debut Jan.

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer Disney‘s board named Morgan Stanley CEO James Gorman and former Sky chief Jeremy Darroch as new directors Wednesday. Additionally, Disney has announced that board member Francis A. deSouza, former president and CEO of Illumina, will not stand for reelection at the company’s upcoming annual meeting, “as he pursues new opportunities in the technology sector that will require his full attention.” The news comes one day after Disney held a company-wide town hall featuring CEO Bob Iger and his top lieutenants discussing the state of the business.

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer Indie streamer Nebula has picked up “Dracula’s Ex-Girlfriend,” a short film from YouTube star and actress Abigail Thorn that centers on how “toxic” relationships with the legendary bloodsucker have affected two of his exes. Described as “‘Jennifer’s Body’ meets ‘Euphoria,'” the “sexy and irreverent” short will debut in early Summer 2024 on Nebula under the Nebula Originals banner.

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer Disney CEO Bob Iger focused on instilling employees with renewed optimism about the Mouse House’s “blessed” and “fortunate” state during a virtual company-wide town hall Tuesday, rather than making any proclamations about the company’s future. The event, moderated by ABC News’ David Muir, was held just over a week after the one-year anniversary of Iger’s return to the helm at Disney (Iger hosted a similar town hall exactly a year ago to the day, upon resuming his post last November) following the surprise ousting of Bob Chapek, and on the heels of Disney reporting its most recent quarterly and full-fiscal-year earnings and taking a stumble at the Thanksgiving holiday box office with new animated film “Wish.” When asked by Muir if coming back to the position of CEO has been more challenging than he had anticipated, Iger, who originally ran Disney for 15 years from 2005-2020, said yes. “I knew that there were myriad challenges that I would face coming back,” Iger said.

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer The film adaptation of Alice Clayton’s rom-com novel “Wallbanger,” set up at Tosca Musk’s romance-focused streamer Passionflix, has rounded out its cast with “Love Island” star Roselyn Sánchez, “And Just Like That” actor Cathy Ang and four more supporting cast members. Based on Clayton’s 2012 New York Times best-selling book, “Wallbanger” is an irresistible tale of exasperation at first sight, according to the film’s official synopsis.

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer For the holidays, you can’t beat home sweet home — and that’s exactly where Chip and Joanna Gaines‘ Magnolia Network is taking you with its new seasonal special, “Holiday Party With Andrew and Zoë.” Premiering Dec. 3 at 2 p.m. Magnolia Network, and streaming same-day on Max and Discovery+, this hour-long even is hosted by Magnolia Network staples “Family Dinner” star Andrew Zimmern and Zoë François of “Zoë Bakes” as they throw a mashup Christmas/Hanukkah party for mutual friends in their hometown, Minneapolis.

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer Even Meghan Markle can’t fathom what has made her old USA Network drama “Suits” pop off on streaming services this year, but she’s here for it. While walking the red carpet at Variety’s Power of Women event Thursday, Markle, The Duchess of Sussex, was informed by Variety’s senior entertainment writer Angelique Jackson that the legal drama has now crossed 45 billion minutes streamed on Netflix and Peacock combined, as of Nielsen’s latest weekly streaming report, released earlier Thursday.

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer SPOILER ALERT: This article contains spoilers for the Season 1 finale of “Gen V, titled “Guardians of Godolkin,” now streaming on Amazon’s Prime Video. As a member of the “Gen V” cast, Chance Perdomo has gone through many on-set experiences specific to those in “The Boys” franchise: being repeatedly covered in fake blood and bodily fluids, shooting scenes with giant genitalia, and saying some truly filthy lines coming out of a superhero’s mouth. But Perdomo has another surprising connection to “The Boys.” “I came into this as a fan of ‘The Boys,’ I actually had originally auditioned for Hughie, years ago.” I read it and I thought it was such a great script.

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer Former head of drama development at Disney’s 20th Television Michelle Mendelovitz has been named head of Mattel Television Studios. In her new role, Mendelovitz will oversee the development, production, and distribution of Mattel’s slate of episodic content on broadcast and streaming globally.

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav‘s name graced many a picket sign during the Writers Guild of America’s 148-day strike, with everything from his exec comp to content-cutting choices called out in writers’ anti-Hollywood studios jokes. Now that the work stoppage is over, the writers might consider reexamining their opinion of Zaslav, who concedes the WGA was “right about almost everything.” In a profile published by Wednesday by The New York Times Magazine, Zaslav said he does not regret the concessions that the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) made to finally close that tentative deal with the writers union Sept.

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer Tosca Musk‘s romance-centric streamer Passionflix has found the leads for its film adaptation of Alice Clayton’s 2012 New York Times best-selling romance novel “Wallbanger.” Playing the steamy love story’s leads Caroline and Simon are “Heels” vet Kelli Berglund and “Hidden Strike” actor Amadeus Serafini. “Wallbanger” is an irresistible tale of exasperation at first sight, according to the film’s official synopsis.

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer The publisher of best-selling romantasy book “Fourth Wing” is working to “swiftly” resolve the “frustrating” misprint issues with “Iron Flame,” the sequel from author Rebecca Yarros, which sold more than half a million copies on its Tuesday release day alone. Entangled Publishing, the owner of Red Tower Books, the imprint behind “Fourth Wing” and “Iron Flame” issued a statement to Variety on Friday, following numerous social media posts and online customer reviews that cited misprints with physical hardback copies of “Iron Flame,” as well as the new holiday edition of “Fourth Wing,” both released Nov. 7.

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer SPOILER ALERT: This article contains spoilers for the Season 1 finale of “Gen V, titled “Guardians of Godolkin,” now streaming on Amazon’s Prime Video. You’ve had a week since the “Gen V” Season 1 finale to theorize about where Marie (Jaz Sinclair), Andre (Chance Perdomo), Jordan (Derek Luh/London Thor) and Emma (Lizze Broadway) are at the end of “The Boys” spinoff’s cliffhanger episode. So, do you have a plausible explanation for the medical facility with no doors that the four supes are stuck in? It’s OK, we don’t either, and just like “Gen V” showrunner Michele Fazekas, star Luh is no help to us by keeping his lips sealed — even though he’s finally allowed to talk about the Amazon series after the SAG-AFTRA strike ended — and refusing to be the spoiler-ific Tom Holland of the Vought Cinematic Universe.

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer NBCUniversal has laid off less than 50 employees across three divisions: Peacock marketing, NBCUniversal Entertainment and ad sales. The majority of these cuts, approximately 30 to 40, were made at Peacock as part of a restructuring under CMO Shannon Willett, a source within the company told Variety.

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer SPOILER ALERT: This article contains massive spoilers for Rebecca Yarros‘s best-selling fantasy novel “Fourth Wing” and its sequel “Iron Flame,” released Nov. 7. It could be a while before the “Fourth Wing” TV series that’s in the works at Amazon makes it to the screen, but with the release of the sequel novel titled “Iron Flame,” we have more than enough source material to begin anticipating the small-screen adaptation that’s set to cover all five planned books in the series.

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer Disney+ topped 150 million streaming subscriptions by the end of its fiscal fourth quarter of the year, up from 146.7 million in the previous quarter. On Wednesday, Disney reported Core Disney+ subscriptions are at 112.6 million subs, as of the quarter ended Sept. 30, and the India-based Disney+ Hotstar is at 37.6 million.