Roku’s Colin Davis Named Head Of Comedy Development For Sony Pictures Television Studios; Other Recent Hires & Promotions Revealed

Mubi is adding over 50 features from the Sony Pictures’ library to its U.S. streaming service. The mix of studio and arthouse fare includes Steven Spielberg’s Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Martin Scorsese’s The Age of Innocence, The Last Picture Show by Peter Bogdanovich and films from Wes Anderson, Pedro Almodovar and Guillermo Del Toro.

Jazz Tangcay Artisans Editor Sony Pictures Animation and Sony Pictures Imageworks will release a brand new original short film titled “The Spider Within.” Set in the world of the upcoming release “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse,” the animated short will debut exclusively at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival this June. In the short, Miles Morales struggles to balance his responsibilities as a teenager, friend and student while acting as Brooklyn’s friendly neighborhood superhero. After a particularly challenging day living with these pressures, Miles experiences a panic attack that forces him to confront the manifestations of his anxiety and learn that reaching out for help can be just as brave an act as protecting his city from evil.

Heather Williams, one of R Kelly’s sexual abuse victims, will be able to claim royalties due to the musician from Sony Music in lieu of a damages payment she is owed following a successful lawsuit.Those royalties had been claimed by a bank which is also owed money by the jailed former pop star, but the Illinois Supreme Court last week ruled that Williams’ damages should take priority.Kelly was sued by Williams in February 2019. She alleged that she first met Kelly in 1998 when she was sixteen and initially agreed to spend time with him at his studio because he promised to put her in a music video.However the video never happened and instead they began a sexual relationship which Williams subsequently recognised as sexual abuse.

Rose Byrne already has one hit show with Apple TV+ in “Physical,” a dark comedy about a woman’s journey of self-discovery through the rise of the aerobics craze in 1980s San Diego. So will lightning strike twice with “Platonic“? That’s the title of Byrne’s new series coming to the streamer with Spring with co-star Seth Rogen.

Lydia Antonini, who was previously Head of Creative Affairs, has taken on an expanded role as head of Scripted Originals and Olivia LaRoche has been promoted to head of Alternative Originals. Both will now report to Tannenbaum.Roku’s Content Acquisition team will also report directly to Eilenberg, as will Jennifer Vaux, who has been named VP of Content Acquisition and Programming.

Rose Byrne already has one hit show with Apple TV+ in “Physical,” a dark comedy about a woman’s journey of self-discovery through the rise of the aerobics craze in 1980s San Diego. So will lightning strike twice with “Platonic“? That’s the title of Byrne’s new series coming to the streamer with Spring with co-star Seth Rogen.

Michael Jordan's mom in the new film, the basketball legend was adamant that the filmmakers ask Viola Davis.Now, Viola Davis is opening up to ET about Jordan's request, and how that played a factor in the way in which she approached the role.«You know, you're flattered at first and then the next second is pressure,» Davis admitted to ET at the SXSW film festival over the weekend. "[Pressure] to play the woman who basically is the orchestrator of this great athlete's life, you know?«In the film, Davis plays Deloris Jordan — while Davis' real-life husband, Julius Tennon, plays her on-screen husband and Jordan's father, James Jordan.

Def Leppard, is addressing a recent frightening incident in which he was attacked outside a hotel in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.Allen was assaulted last Monday while smoking a cigarette outside the Four Seasons Hotel and was knocked down, where he subsequently struck his head on the ground.On Sunday, Allen released a statement to sharing a message of gratitude for fans who have reached out to share their love and well wishes.«Thank you everyone for your overwhelming support. Your love and prayers are truly helping,» Allen shared. «My wife Lauren [Monroe] was thankfully not with me at the time of the incident.

Michael Schneider Variety Editor at Large Roku Channel scripted series head Colin Davis has jumped to Sony Pictures Television Studios as the studio’s new exec VP of comedy development, Variety has confirmed. As part of the exec shuffle, back at Roku, Brian Tannenbaum has replaced Davis as head of scripted on an interim level. Davis will report to Sony Pictures TV Studios co-president Jason Clodfelter and oversee comedy development for all platforms. Davis’ team will include comedy development senior VP, animation VP Frank Ochoa and comedy development manager Jackie Wertheimer. He starts on May 1. At Roku, Davis oversaw the launch of series including the “Reno 911” reboot and Kevin Hart’s “Die Harter,” as well as the greenlight and release of the feature “Weird: The Al Yankovic Story.” Davis joined Roku as part of its acquisition of Quibi content; he had previously led scripted at that very brief short-form subscription service. Before Quibi, he handled comedy development at Turner, working on shows such as “Search Party.” His interim replacement, Tannenbaum, also joined Roku from Quibi..

EXCLUSIVE: Roku has quickly found its new scripted boss.

Def Leppard, suffered a head injury on Monday when he was attacked outside his hotel in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.According to a police report released by the Fort Lauderdale Police Department on Thursday, Allen was outside the Four Seasons Hotel smoking a cigarette in the valet section when the assailant then struck Allen «at a full run,» knocking Allen backward.Allen — who lost his left arm in a car accident in 1984 — subsequently suffered an injury when he struck his head on the ground after being hit.Max Edward Hartley, a 19-year-old Ohio resident visiting Florida, was arrested and charged with two counts of battery, four counts of criminal mischief, and a count of abusing an elderly or disabled adult.Hartley allegedly also assaulted another woman who attempted to come to Allen's aid after he was struck.According to the police report, Hartley allegedly knocked the woman to the ground as well before hitting her while she was down. The woman then tried to escape by running back into the hotel, before Hartley allegedly dragged her by her hair out of the lobby and onto the sidewalk, then ran from the scene of the crime.Hartley was arrested shortly after when security at the Conrad hotel found him allegedly damaging vehicles in their parking garage.Hartley was in Florida for Spring Break, according to police.

Deadites are everywhere in Lee Cronin’s newest film Evil Dead Rise. Taking place in cosmopolitan Los Angeles, these wacky demons still cause high-rise havoc in the modern era. Also written by Cronin, a true fan of the franchise, the movie stars Alyssa Sutherland, Lilly Sullivan, Morgan Davies, Gabriele Echols and Nell Fisher. It is interesting seeing these stories shift from a male to female perspective, showing that women can also be heroes of the supernatural as well. 

American-European Media Fund APX Group has completed the acquisition of a 50% stake in the UK’s Twickenham Film Studios.

Naman Ramachandran U.S.-Europe media fund APX Group has acquired a 50% stake in London’s Twickenham Film Studios. The move comes weeks after Twickenham Studios chair Sunny Vohra acquired a 6.95% stake in the APX Group for more than $70 million, reflecting a market cap of $1.1 billion for APX, which is planning a public listing on New York Stock Exchange later this year. APX and Twickenham did not disclose the financial value of the deal. As part of the acquisition, APX Group will rebrand its global network of studios with the Twickenham Studios name. The parties have also agreed on an accelerated expansion plan to acquire additional studios and land suited for studio construction in Europe and the U.S., all under the Twickenham Studios brand.

The Price Is Right is on the move. The popular CBS daytime game show, produced by Fremantle, will leave Television City, where it has taped since its 1972 launch, and relocate to a new facility in Glendale, Haven Studios, in which Fremantle is the investor with a long-term lease.

The family of Russian journalist Anna Politkovskaya has said an upcoming film inspired by her life is “grossly inaccurate” and misrepresents her work in a statement sent to journalists Tuesday afternoon.

filmmaking is a real honor. Thank you to Michael and Tom for embracing our story about flawed, complex human beings, who happen to be Asian American, just trying their best.

Sony Pictures Classics has taken global rights to Randall Park’s feature directorial Shortcomings. The pic starring Justin H. Min (After Yang), Sherry Cola (Joy Ride, Good Trouble), and Ally Maki (Big Door Prize), Tavi Gevinson (Gossip Girl), Debby Ryan (Insatiable), Sonoya Mizuno (House of the Dragon), Timothy Simons (Veep), and Jacob Batalon (Reginald The Vampire) had its world premiere at Sundance back in January in the U.S. Dramatic Competition sector.

Ariana DeBose, Chloe Fineman, Amanda Seyfried, and Megan Stalter are teaming up for a very exciting new movie!

Matt Donnelly Senior Film Writer Sony Pictures has won global distribution rights to the hot comedy package “My Ex-Friend’s Wedding,” a script co-written by buzzy author Taylor Jenkins Reid starring a murderers’ row of funny women. Oscar winner Ariana DeBose, “Saturday Night Live” breakout Chloe Fineman, Amanda Seyfried and Megan Stalter are set as the core ensemble. The film follows four childhood best friends who receive a drunken voicemail from a former BFF on the eve of her wedding day — confessing that she thinks she’s making a mistake. The group sets out to stop her wedding and rekindle the friendship they once shared. Comedy vet Kay Cannon, whose 2019 feature directorial debut “Blockers” over-performed at the box office, is directing. The script is from Ashley Rodger and Jenkins Reid. The latter could not be hotter at the moment, as the series adaptation of her novel “Daisy Jones & The Six” is about to hit Amazon Prime Video. Additional Jenkins Reed books are headed to the screen at Hulu (“Malibu Rising”) and Netflix (“The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo”).