Protagonist Pictures Hires Number 9’s Alice Vail as Creative Executive

After being on hiatus for the last two years during Covid, the Producers Guild of America (PGA)’s 12th annual Produced By Conference has announced its first round of speakers. The event is taking place on Saturday, June 11 and Sunday, June 12 at the FOX Studio Lot in Century City.

; and “Hustle and Flow” producer Stephanie Allain (Homegrown Pictures).Also attending will be Shondaland creative partner Betsy Beers; Funny or Die CEO Mike Farah; UTA Co-Head of Media Rights Jason Richman; Mark Kimsey, co-CEO of Electromagnetic Productions; actor and producer Aml Ameen.

Ioan Gruffudd and Bianca Wallace looked besotted as they attended their first red carpet together. The couple officially confirmed their relationship in October last year following Liar actor Ioan’s split from his wife Alice Evans. Ioan, 48, and Bianca, 29, were attending a charity night for the MS society, a condition which Bianca has been open about suffering from in the past.

Christina Bazdekis has joined United Talent Agency as an agent in the motion picture division. Based in New York, she will report to MP co-heads Jason Burns and Julien Thuan.

Elsa Keslassy International CorrespondentAlice Rohrwacher, the Italian director whose “The Wonders” and “Happy as Lazzaro” both won prizes at Cannes, is returning to the festival with “The Pupils,” a short film that will screen during her masterclass in the “Rendez-vous With…” section.Penned and directed by Rohrwacher, the 37-minute short is backed by Disney and was produced by Alfonso Cuaron and Carlo Cresto-Dina. It boasts a cast that includes Alba Rohrwacher, actor-director Valeria Bruni Tedeschi — whose latest movie is competing at the festival — Melissa Falasconi, Carmen Pommella, Greta Zuccheri Montanari, Luciano Vergaro — aka “Catirre” — and Tatiana Lepore.Shot in Super 16 and in 35mm format, “The Pupils” is a facetious coming-of-age fable that follows rebellious little girls at a Catholic boarding school in the run up to Christmas in a time of scarcity and war.

Wolf Alice have launched a new series of mini-documentaries to accompany their upcoming ‘Blue Lullaby’ EP – check out the first instalment below.The North London band released a “lullaby version” of their 2021 single ‘The Last Man On Earth’ last week. It’s one of four ‘Blue Weekend’ tracks to have been given a stripped-back reimagining for the aforementioned four-track collection, which arrives on June 24 via Dirty Hit (pre-save here).Today (May 10) Wolf Alice posted the first episode of the Stroma Cairns-directed Making Blue Lullaby.

Manori Ravindran International EditorIn another major M&A coup, Fremantle has taken a majority stake in Irish production company Element Pictures, the producers of “Normal People,” “Conversations With Friends” and “The Favourite.”Element Pictures has grown to become one of Europe’s top drama producers, and is managed by co-founders Ed Guiney and Andrew Lowe, with offices in Dublin, London and Belfast.The deal was spearheaded by Fremantle group COO and continental Europe CEO Andrea Scrosati and Lorenzo De Maio, of De Maio Entertainment. The deal represents continued investment in European drama from Fremantle, which is owned by Germany’s RTL Group.

Al Roker is a devoted family man and loves nothing more than spending time with his children.MORE: HELLO!'s Platinum Jubilee T-shirts to celebrate the QueenWhile his youngest two, Nick and Lelila, often feature on his social media accounts, his oldest daughter Courtney is rarely pictured in public.However, to mark Mother's Day on Sunday, Al took to Instagram to share a series of family snapshots, including a lovely group picture featuring his oldest child, and several more from vacations and memorable occasions.VIDEO: Al Roker's son Nick receives exciting news"What a beautiful family," one follower wrote in the comments section, while another wrote: "Such lovely pictures." A third added: "Gorgeous pictures."MORE: Savannah Guthrie misses Today as Hoda Kotb is joined by new co-hostMORE: Al Roker defended by wife Deborah Roberts from co-starAl shares Courtney with his ex-wife Alice Bell, and went on to welcome Leila and Nick with wife Deborah Roberts.Last year was an incredibly exciting time for Al's family, as Courtney tied the knot to now-husband Wesley Laga. Al Roker's daughter Courtney made a rare appearance in a new family photoThe couple said "I do" at the Ashford Estate in New Jersey where Al walked Courtney down the aisle.

Trouble in Mind” was big news last season. Her “Wedding Band” is even bigger news this theater season.

Wolf Alice have delivered a cover of King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard‘s song ‘Sense’, performing their rendition on Australian radio station, triple j.Aired today (May 6), Wolf Alice’s version of the song is sultry and smooth, capturing the laid-back feeling of the original. Driven by silky guitars, stirring keys and singer Ellie Rowsell’s soft vocals, they breathe new life into the 2015 cut, lifted from King Gizz’s ‘Paper Mâché Dream Balloon’ LP.“I think they’re such a prolific band and so talented that they can have these hidden pop gems, in my opinion, that it’s really clever,” said bassist Theo Ellis in a post-performance interview.

EXCLUSIVE: Wolfe Releasing has acquired North American rights to the Italian LGBTQIA+ dramedy Blessed Boys (La Santa Piccola) from Minerva Pictures, ahead of its North American premiere at the 2022 Tribeca Festival on June 11th, with plans to release it in theaters and on digital this fall.

Wolf Alice have announced plans to release a new EP featuring lullaby versions of select songs from their ‘Blue Weekend’ album.Titled ‘Blue Lullaby’, the release will feature four reworked tracks from their 2021 album including new versions of ‘No Hard Feelings’, ‘Lipstick On The Glass’, ‘How Can I Make It OK?’ and ‘The Last Man On Earth’, the latter of which you hear below now.“’Blue Lullaby’ came about because we wanted to strip down some of our more emotional songs from ‘Blue Weekend’ and see if they hit any different,” said frontwoman Ellie Rowsell.“We also had a really nice moment during the ‘Blue Weekend’ campaign singing one of our songs with a choir and we wanted to experience that again with a few other songs, especially as there are a lot of harmonies and a lot of vocal layering on ‘Blue Weekend’.“Hearing multiple voices singing together is an unparalleled feeling to me so I’m happy we got to record this experience and I hope people enjoy it.”‘Blue Lullaby’ will be released on June 24 via Dirty Hit. You can pre-save the album here, and see the tracklist below.1.

Nexon. “We are thrilled to welcome Scott, Rik, and Marian to our AGBO team,” AGBO CEO Jason Bergsman said in a statement.

K.J. Yossman Protagonist Pictures have boarded Riley Keough’s directorial debut “War Pony” (previously known as “Beast.”) Keough (“Mad Max: Fury Road”) co-directed the feature with Gina Gammell (“Manodrome”).

Creeper have been announced as the special guests on Alice Cooper and The Cult co-headlining tour.Alice Cooper and The Cult announced details of a co-headlining UK arena tour last year. The acts will hit the road in late May and early June for six arena shows.The tour is set to begin on May 23 with a show at the Swansea Arena, before the band play at The O2 in London two days later.Dates in Manchester, Glasgow and Birmingham follow before the tour wraps up in Leeds at the First Direct Arena on June 1.Speaking about the tour, Creeper said: “It is somewhat surreal for us to be able to announce today that Creeper will be joining Alice Cooper and The Cult on their UK arena tour next month.“It is a dream come true for a band like ours to tour with our heroes and people who have been such an inspiration to us.

UK sales company Protagonist Pictures has named Alice Vail as Creative Executive.

Season one of music competition No Cover is set to launch for free on YouTube today [April 20].

Drill star Digga D takes the lead in the race for this week’s UK Number 1 album with Noughty By Nature. 

The line-up for the 54th Directors’ Fortnight selection was announced this morning by General Delegate Paolo Moretti and his selection committee. On top of the previously announced opening night film, Pietro Marcello‘s “Scarlet,” he being the director of the well-regarded “Martin Eden” festival film, highlights from the films announced include Alex Garland‘s much-anticipated psychological horror “Men,” starring Jessie Buckley, a woman who retreats to the English countryside following the death of her husband.