Serialized Fiction App Radish Gets $63M Funding, Opens LA Office & Eyes TV Opportunities

Tom Grater International Film ReporterHappy Friday everyone. Tom Grater here with the rundown of this week’s biggest international headlines from the worlds of film and TV.

Dave McNary Film ReporterSTXfilms has bought the KJ Apa and Sofia Carson-led pandemic thriller “Songbird” for release in North America and the United Kingdom.The film recently wrapped production after shooting entirely in Los Angeles during lockdown.

Justin Kroll Senior Film ReporterVerve is expanding their footprint in the New York market, opening its first office in New York and hiring veteran literary agent Chris Till to oversee it.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefHoldover title “Deliver Us From Evil” once again topped the Korean box office, over the weekend. It earned $6.74 million for a cumulative of $26.5 million after just 11 days on release.The hitman on a last job thriller managed a strong hold, losing only 37% in its second weekend, compared with $10.6 million on its debut.

Leslie David Baker says that racism has gotten worse after exposing hateful comments he received following his decision to start a crowdfunding campaign for a spinoff to “The Office.” The star, who is best known for playing Stanley Hudson on the popular NBC sitcom, began a Kickstarter campaign to try and get a spinoff titled “Uncle Stan” off the ground.The proposed spinoff would see his character come out of retirement in Florida and move to Los Angeles to help his nephew run a motorcycle and

Entertainer and Trump supporter Kanye West recently met with White House adviser and the president’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, a source familiar with the meeting said on Wednesday as the entertainer pursues his efforts to appear on the presidential ballot this November.

Erik Pedersen Managing EditorAnother live festival bites the dust. The American Film Institute announced Tuesday that its annual AFI Fest will go virtual as COVID-19 continues to affect Los Angeles.AFI officials detailed the decision to the Los Angeles Times.  Instead of its September in-person premieres, AFI Fest will feature virtual events in October.

Dino-Ray Ramos Associate Editor/ReporterOutfest Los Angeles is going virtual this year and they have unveiled their stacked lineup for the 11-day festival which kicks off August 20.The LGBTQ film fest fest will include over 160 films with 35 world premieres, 10 North American premieres and 4 U.S. premieres to Los Angeles for 2020.

Peter White Television EditorEXCLUSIVE: Rachael Ray’s 30 Minute Meals is back with a series of self-shot shows.However, the series, which was rebooted last year after its initial 11 year run, will debut on the Food Network Kitchen app rather than the linear network.The Discovery-owned company is launching 20 episodes this fall on the direct-to-consumer service, which launched last October.

Jon Burlingame First Artists Management, the Los Angeles-based talent agency specializing in composers and music supervisors, is expanding its operations by opening an office in London and hiring two new partner-agents.Hamish Duff joins First Artists from independent management and publishing company Involved Productions. He will head the London office and oversee all U.K.

Todd Spangler NY Digital EditorDonald Trump is gearing up to issue an order requiring ByteDance to sell its ownership interest in TikTok, , according to multiple reports — otherwise, he’s threatening to ban the short-form video app over security concerns about its ties to China.At the same time, Microsoft is currently in talks to buy TikTok, per reports by Bloomberg and the New York Times, citing anonymous sources.

KJ Apa has been accident prone over the past few days.