Republic Records Names David Wolter Executive VP of A&R (EXCLUSIVE)

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media ReporterSandra Bullock and Channing Tatum’s screwball romantic comedy “The Lost City” collected $31 million at North American theaters over the weekend, a promising sign that Netflix hasn’t completely seized on the meet-cute market.Of course, Paramount, which is behind “The Lost City,” did not rely only on positive reviews — or the tease of Tatum’s bare behind — to fuel ticket sales. The on-screen chemistry between Bullock and Tatum, who were inescapable on social media, billboards and in trailers while promoting the film, were key in getting audiences to cinemas.

Manchester United starlet Anthony Elanga was summoned from the bench for his international debut as Sweden took a step closer to qualifying for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. Captained by his United teammate Victor Lindelof, the Swedes were 1-0 winners against Czech Republic.

Elsa Keslassy International CorrespondentYann Arthus-Bertrand’s environment-themed cinematic documentary “Legacy” has been sold by Calt Distribution around the world, including to Amazon Prime Video for the U.S., the U.K. and Ireland.A celebrated French environmentalist, photographer and filmmaker, Arthus-Bertrand (“Home”) enlisted the British singer and activist Sting to narrate the English version of the timely documentary.“Legacy,” which aims at raising the alarm on the climate crisis, screened at COP26, the international summit in Glasgow that’s hosted by Prince Charles, the Prince of Wales.Through “Legacy,” Arthus-Bertrand captured the beauty of our planet and explored humans’ appropriation and the destruction of the environment.

and starring in movie musicals like and, Julianne Hough is taking her many talents to the stage with her Broadway debut in the upcoming play,. “This has been a dream of mine, to do Broadway and be on Broadway,” the performer tells ET’s Rachel Smith. And with that in mind, Hough is embarking on a whole new chapter in her life after deciding this is what she wanted to do next.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorRay Alba and Nathan Sheppard have been named senior vice presidents of marketing for Capitol Records, the flagship label of Capitol Music Group, it was announced today by CMG President Arjun Pulijal, to whom the pair reports.  In their new roles, Alba and Sheppard will co-lead the label’s marketing department, overseeing the design and execution of marketing campaigns for the full roster of artists on the label.  Both executives are based at the company’s headquarters within the Capitol Tower in Hollywood.Alba (pictured above, left) comes to Capitol from Epic Records, where he was senior VP of publicity and worked extensively with Future and 21 Savage, among many others. Prior to joining Epic in 2018, he was VP of publicity and head of urban publicity at Interscope Geffen A&M Records from 2015 through 2018.

Shirley Halperin Executive Editor, MusicAton Ben-Horin is extending his tenure at Warner Music Group with a new title and just-announced publishing partnership. Although he’s been in the position for some time, it was made official today by Atlantic Records Group, which announced Ben-Horin’s promotion to executive VP, global A&R. Covering Atlantic, Elektra Music Group, Big Beat and other subsidiary labels, he’ll report to Atlantic chairman and CEO Craig Kallman and be based out of Los Angeles.In addition, Ben-Horin, who has long been a hitmaker executive, seasoned scout and producer, has launched a publishing partnership with Warner Chappell Music.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorSony Music Entertainment Latin-Iberia has struck a new partnership with WK Records, the record label founded by WK Entertainment CEO-founder Walter Kolm.WKR artists include reggaeton star Alex Rose, Grammy-nominated/ Latin Grammy-winning producer-artist Foreign Teck, singer-songwriter Emilia, Argentine trap artist Seven Kayne, and Colombian artist Cheo Gallego, with more signings to be announced in the coming weeks.WKR is led by CEO and WKE head of music Horacio Rodriguez (who joined last year after 15 years at Universal Music Latin), with a pop and urban division led by WKR GM/co-founder Oscar Guitián, and a regional Mexican division led by producer-composer-executive Alberto De León, who previously held roles at Universal, Capitol Latin, Machete Music and  Fonovisa/Disa. “We have an incredible relationship with the entire WK family,” said Sony Latin-Iberia chairman-CEO Afo Verde.

Selome Hailu Brittany Snow announced that Scott Mescudi, better known by his stage name Kid Cudi, has been cast in her feature directorial debut “September 17th.”In an interview with Variety about A24’s “X,” the South by Southwest film that Cudi and Snow star in together, the two shared their excitement about continuing to work together.“I can’t really speak to it too much, except that Scott’s doing a part in the movie, so that’s cool,” Snow said.“I couldn’t believe that she wanted me in it,” Cudi said. “She had told me about the movie while we were on set [for “X”], but she never asked me to be in it. I was like, ‘Maybe she’s waiting to see how [“X”] turns out.’ It’s gonna be awesome.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorAfter two years of pandemic-induced shutdown and Omicron-postponed reopenings in December and January, Iridium, the downstairs music club in New York’s Times Square known as the “home of Les Paul,” is finishing the second week of its grand reopening, which launched on March 1 with a performance by the Harlem Blues Project, followed by four shows with a fiery jazz-rock band led by guitarist Mike Stern (featuring the great Randy Brecker on cornet), blues guitarist King Solomon Hicks, veteran folksinger Tom Rush and tonight and Saturday, guitarist Jeff “Skunk” Baxter, and jazz guitarist Larry Carlton, including sets focused on his extensively 1970s work with Steely Dan.The unusually intimate (for New York, anyway) 170-capacity downstairs club, which has updated its cleaning procedures and air-filtration system, returned with a full menu (including entrees like “The Les Paul” burger and the plant-based “Jerry Garcia”) a robust wine list and many (potent) specialty cocktails. The club is also launching Iridium Underground, a new series focused on emerging artists, next week with Brooklyn-based guitarist-producer Mario and the Mood.

Jem Aswad Senior Music Editortoday (March 9). He is based in the Republic Records Los Angeles office.Most recently, Beard  spent a decade at APG, where he rose from intern to senior VP of A&R and brought in Charlie Puth, Alex Benjamin and Pink Sweat$; he also has worked closely with David Guetta, Jason Derulo, Pitbull and Flo Rida, in addition to songwriters such as Amy Allen, Sean Douglas, Madison Love, Salem Ilese, and others. He also worked extensively as a DJ in nightclubs across the U.S., on-air for KIIS-FM and at private events.Goldstein said, “Miles has really set the pace for pop music with an unbelievable winning streak of incredible signings throughout the past decade.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorTom March has been named president of Geffen Records in the U.S., the company announced today (March 7). March, who as co-president of Polydor Records made the label one of the top imprints in the U.K., will begin his tenure at Geffen in July.Geffen Records was relaunched by Interscope Geffen A&M chairman & CEO John Janick two years ago as a label within Interscope, and it launched 2021’s breakout star Olivia Rodrigo, who is nominated for seven Grammy Awards.

Sophie Ellis-Bextor, who made her mainstream breakthrough as a solo artist in the early 2000s, Theaudience were active for three years, between 1996 and 1999.The Britpop group had a string of singles from their debut LP, including ‘If You Can’t Do It When You’re Young; When Can You Do It?’ and ‘A Pessimist Is Never Disappointed’. They disbanded after a set of demos recorded for their second album – which was never formally released – were rejected by Mercury Records.Now, guitarist Billy Reeves has announced a reissue of Theaudience’s self-titled album will arrive on April 30.

Wilson Chapman editor“Zátopek,” director David Ondříček’s biopic about Olympic champion Emil Zátopek, dominated the 29th annual Czech Lion Awards, winning in eight categories across 13 nominations.The Czech Lion Awards were held on Saturday evening at Dvořák Hall in Prague’s Rudolfinum. The awards, which are voted on by a 350-person jury of members from the Czech Film and Television Academy, are considered the highest film honors in the Czech Republic.During the ceremony, “Zátopek” won awards for best film, director, actor in a leading role, cinematography, editing, sound, production design and makeup and hairstyling.

Chris Willman Music WriterAs “American Song Contest” approaches its March 21 premiere date, the “Eurovision Song Contest”-inspired NBC show has announced 56 artists that will compete in representing the 50 U.S. states, along with a new deal with Atlantic Records to release the upcoming series’ original songs.Some familiar names pop up on the stage-by-state list of competitors — including Jewel (representing Alaska), Macy Gray (Ohio), Michael Bolton (Connecticut), the Crystal Method (Nevada), Sisqo (Maryland) and Allen Stone (Washington) — along with dozens not so well known outside their local territories.Kelly Clarkson and Snoop Dogg were recently announced as co-hosts for the show.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor Stacia Philips Deshishku, an ABC News veteran who has supervised audio content and was a former deputy Washington Bureau chief for the Disney-backed news outlet, has been named executive editor and senior vice president position. She reports to Kim Godwin, president of ABC News.Philips Deshishku will essentially work as the second-in-command of ABC News editorial efforts, working closely with senior producers at “Good Morning America,” “World News Tonight,” “The View,” “This Week with George Stephanopoulos,” “20/20,” “Tamron Hall” and “Nightline,” as well as ABC News’ booking unit.Prior to joining ABC,  the executive managed newsgathering around  some of the biggest domestic and international stories while serving as CNN’s director of coverage.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorCity of Hope, one of the largest cancer research and treatment organizations in the U.S., will honor Republic Records founders Monte and Avery Lipman (pictured above, R-L) at its 2022 Spirit of Life Gala in the fall. The prestigious award will be presented to them at a gala dinner — the first Spirit of Life Gala since 2019.According to the announcement, the Spirit of Life Award is City of Hope’s most prestigious honor and is presented to an esteemed community of industry leaders around the world who have made a significant commitment to improving the lives of others through the advancement of research and clinical innovation and the delivery of personalized, compassionate care.

Anna Marie de la Fuente Dominican filmmaker Jose Maria Cabral has shared the trailer to his eighth feature, “Parsley,” with Variety ahead of its world premiere at the Miami Int’l Film Festival.New York-based Visit Films is handling world sales rights on the drama.As in his Sundance title “Woodpeckers” (“Carpinteros”) and his more recent films, Cabral trains his lens on the marginalized in his country. “Parsley” (“Perejil”) is based on the 1937 Perejil Massacre when Dominican dictator Rafael Trujillo ordered the execution of Haitian communities on the country’s border with Haiti.

APPOINTMENTSGed Doherty is stepping down as Chair of UK record industry trade body BPI after seven years in the role, in order to focus on his film company Raindog Films. “I have loved every minute of working with the BPI and its members and its amazing team led by Geoff Taylor”, he says.

UPDATE: Pressure is mounting on FIFA to boot Russia from the qualifying rounds of the World Cup. Today, the Czech Republic has joined in the boycott of Ukraine’s invaders, saying they won’t face Russia on the pitch.