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Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Studiocanal, the European powerhouse behind “Paddington,” has created a genre label dedicated to the development, production and distribution of horror, thriller, sci fi and action films and TV series. The company has hired Jed Benedict, a well-known executive who previously worked for the U.K. distribution banner Elysian Film Group, to run the new label.

Two-time Grammy Award winning singer and songwriter Gloria Gaynor will be the subject of a new biopic under the Robin Roberts Presents banner for Lifetime.

Jacob Rodriguez and Katherine Hughes are joining season 2 of the Hulu Original Series Tell Me Lies in recurring roles.

EXCLUSIVE: Great American Family is about to drop another installment of its Candace Cameron Bure Presents series. The movie is called Just in Time and stars Broadway’s Laura Osnes, Peter Bryant (Family Law), and Greyston Holt (The Night Agent).

Christopher Vourlias Viola Davis and Julius Tennon’s JuVee Productions, which recently wrapped the action-thriller “G20” for Amazon Studios and MRC Film in Cape Town, is planning to return to South Africa to film the true story of a young African refugee’s improbable journey to the U.S., the company’s head of film production and development, Melanie Clark, revealed this week at the Joburg Film Festival. Developing the film with a working title of “The Refugee,” Clark said Davis and Tennon’s production banner is “actively working on [it] with some local partners and are in the process of figuring out how to shoot it” in South Africa, adding that “we do plan to shoot that here.” The veteran production executive described the project as “the true story of a young Sierra Leonean boy who lost his mother in [the country’s civil war] and found himself alone, because no family would take him in any refugee camp.

Max has dropped the official trailer for season 3 of Hacks, which returns May 2 for nine episodes.

Alex Ritman Well-established Italian producers Mario Gianani and Lorenzo Mieli — who left their Fremantle-owned banners, Wildside and The Apartment, respectively, earlier this year — are returning to the growing TV and film powerhouse with their new scripted outfit. The duo — who co-founded “The Young Pope” and “My Brilliant Friend” production house Wildside in 2009 before Mieli exited to set up The Apartment, which was behind the recent hit “Priscilla” — are yet to reveal details of their new company.

K.J. Yossman Matthew Vaughn is already deep into producing his next feature film, a caper titled “The Stuntman,” Variety has learned. Helmed by stunt performer turned director Damien Walters, the film tells the story of two brothers who both become stuntmen.

Hunter Schafer has been arrested.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent A rare flagship indie producer left on the French market, Bruno Nahon‘s Paris-based company Unité is preparing to conquer international audiences with “Rematch,” a period psychological thriller chronicling the historical battle between world chess champion Garry Kasparov (Christian Cooke, “That Dirty Black Bag”), and IBM’s supercomputer Deep Blue in 1997. The sprawling show, directed by Yan England (“The Red Band Society”) and co-created with Nahon and André Gulluni (“Sam”), was commissioned by Arte in France and has already been sold by Federation Studios to major outlets around the world, including HBO Europe for Spain, Portugal, the Nordics, Iceland, Baltics, Central Europe, Greece and the Netherlands.

Mixmag).Artists appearing at the event include The Blessed Madonna, Hot Chip (performing a DJ set) and Normski. Check out the full list of acts playing at the event here:A post shared by GIDEÖN (@gideon_dj_official)A statement posting about the event from DJ Gideon said the “mobile protest unit will be hitting the streets of London along with thousands of demonstrators to protest against the racist, xenophobic, transphobic, anti-immigrant, genocide enabling contingent in the UK establishment.”The post continued: “As the Tories ratchet up their anti-immigration rhetoric, as Trump plots his second attempt at dismantling US democracy and as Labour fail to call out Israel’s genocide, we must unite once again around our community soundsystem to protest against the global consolidation of rightwing power.”“Bring banners, loudhailers and friends plus everything you need to kick-start the revolution.

Brent Lang Executive Editor Black Bear has hired Courtney L. Cunniff as senior vice president of film.

Annika Pham Fremantle’s Norwegian banner Monster, behind hit TV shows “Exit,” “Furia” and “Pørni, will be bringing to Series Mania Forum’s Co-Pro Pitching Sessions ‘The Odesa Wrestlers’, which has received development coin from Norwegian pubcaster NRK. Celebrated Norwegian podcaster Joachim Førsund and star actor Thorbjørn Harr (“Vikings”, “22 July”, “Sex”) are making their debut as co-creators, with Førsund also serving as screenwriter and Harr as episodic director.

The British royal family has officially celebrated its first lesbian wedding!

Police are investigating after a person was caught on camera tearing down a banner calling for support for George Galloway in the Rochdale by-election. They were seen putting it in their car and driving away.

K.J. Yossman Author and screenwriter Giles Paley-Phillips is launching a new film production company called Eight Digits.

K.J. Yossman “Bohemian Rhapsody” star Lucy Boynton smoulders as 1950s nightclub owner Ruth Ellis in a new image from upcoming ITV drama “A Cruel Love: The Ruth Ellis Story.” Ellis was the last woman to be hanged in Britain in 1955 after she was convicted of shooting dead her lover, racing driver David Blakely. Boynton is joined by Toby Jones (“Tetris”), Laurie Davidson (“Cats”) and Mark Stanley (“Trigger Point”) in the four-part series, which promises to expose the British obsession with class, sex and death.

A group of pro-Palestinian supporters staged a protest against Israel’s ongoing military action in the Gaza Strip in the main Marius Gropius Bau venue of the Berlin Film Festival European Film Market on Sunday.

Free agent Anwar El Ghazi has offered to play for Celtic for FREE after the latest show of support from the Green Brigade for Palestine.

The Green Brigade have paid tribute to the people of Palestine with a clear message over the war there ahead of Celtic's match against Kilmarnock.

A couple who have hosted more than 100 marriage proposals and honeymoons at their Airbnb holiday lets, "setting the scene" with rose petal messages on the bed and fairy lights, have said they love creating "magical" Disney-esque settings to allow romance to blossom.

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer Philosophy Tube star Abigail Thorn has added to the cast of her upcoming Nebula original short film, “Dracula’s Ex-Girlfriend,” with “Helluva Boss” stars Morgana Ignis and Brandon Rogers. 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. Per Nebula’s description, “Two former rivals who share the same toxic ex, Count Dracula, reconnect over dinner and drinks — but one is more healed and moved on than the other.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Mk2 Films, the Paris-based outfit behind Justine Triet’s Oscar-nominated “Anatomy of a Fall,” is set to restore Robert Bresson’s “Four Nights of a Dreamer,” a romantic drama which competed at the Berlinale in 1971 and disappeared from screens in 1985. MK2 Films, the division of a major arthouse cinema chain in France, will digitize “Four Nights of a Dreamer” in 4K and will bring it to global theatres in 2024. “Four Nights of a Dreamer” is the 10th film directed by Bresson and the only one which wasn’t restored.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Simon Moutaïrou, the critically acclaimed screenwriter behind the spy thriller hit “Black Box,” has partnered with some of France’s biggest players — leading producer Chi-Fou-Mi (“November,” “All Your Faces”) and Studiocanal — on his ambitious directorial debut, “No Chains, No Masters.” Now in post, “No Chains, No Masters,” is an epic movie inspired by historical accounts of former slaves in West Africa, nicknamed Maroons, who emancipated themselves from French settlements. Set in 1759, in the French colony of Mauritius Island, “No Chains, No Masters” is an epic historical drama following a father, Massamba (Ibrahima Mbaye Thié), and his fierce teenage daughter Mati (Anna Thiandoum) who defy all odds to survive a manhunt across the jungle and emancipate themselves from the hell of a colonial plantation.

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer A multiplayer fighting video game based on Nickelodeon‘s beloved animated series “Avatar: The Last Airbender,” soon to be a live-action Netflix show, is in the works. The game is set at Maximum Entertainment in a new pact with Paramount Game Studio.

Families will be looking for ways to keep kids occupied now that the school holidays are upon us once more. The weather can be unpredictable over February half term, so it’s a good idea to have some rainy day options.

Joe Otterson TV Reporter NBC has ordered a drama pilot from Jenna Bans and Bill Krebs. The project is titled “Grosse Pointe Garden Society.” The official logline reads, “Four members of a suburban garden club, all from different walks of life, get caught up in murder and mischief as they struggle to make their conventional lives bloom.” Bans and Krebs serve as writers and executive producers on the pilot. Bans will executive produce under her Minnesota Logging Company banner along with Casey Kyber.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Filmmakers Alex Gibney, Johan Grimonprez and Laura Huertas Millan, along with industry figures Jessica Harrop from Sandbox and Marie Nelson from Hot Docs will be among the speakers at CPH:CONFERENCE, the discussion program at documentary festival CPH:DOX. The program, which is curated in partnership with the training initiative Documentary Campus, has the theme “rebuilding narratives.” The conference will kick off on March 18 with a collaboration with the DISCO Network – made up of Ambulante, AFLAMUNA, DocsMX, Doc Society, DocSP, Docubox, In-Docs and India Docs – who will present and workshop “Our Declaration of Independence.” This session, led by Jad Abi-Khalil (AFLAMUNA) and Beadie Finzi (Doc Society), is a result of an initiative aiming to “articulate the importance of independent documentaries to culture, society and democracy, and to advocate for the resources and platforms they deserve.” In the mornings of March 19-21, there will be thought-provoking conversations with filmmakers featured in this year’s CPH:DOX program.

Joe Otterson TV Reporter Stephen Curry and Adam Pally are set to co-star in a mockumentary project that has been ordered straight to series at Peacock. The announcement was made during the Television Critics Association winter press tour in Pasadena. Titled “Mr.

Annika Pham DR Sales has picked up “Piggy” (“Murk” in Norwegian), a quirky crime comedy from advertising, film and TV production banner The Oslo Company, credited for Netflix’s “Home for Christmas 1 & 2.” The six-part series set to premiere on the commercial channel TV2 Norway March 17, will be sneak-peeked Feb. 9 at the Scandinavian Drama Series Showcase in Berlin, co-hosted by the Göteborg Film Festival’s TV Drama Vision and the European Film Market. Headlining “Piggy”’s Norwegian ensemble cast are Ine Jansen (“Mammon”), Trond Espen Seim (“Power Play”, “Varg Veum”), Jonis Josef (“Kasko”), John Carew (“Home Ground”), Iben Akerlie (“Norsemen”), and Lars Berge (“Wisting”).

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent European production and distribution group Newen Studios has appointed Pierre Branco — the former country manager of Warner Bros Discovery for France, Benelux and Africa — as CEO. Branco will begin his position at Newen Studios starting in April, succeeding Romain Bessi, who has decided to step down after a six-year tenure during which he led the company’s expansion.

Alex Ritman Concourse Media, the sales and distribution banner led by Matthew Shreder, is teaming with Goldfinch on its already-established genre label The Number 44. Concourse will come aboard as sales partner for a five-picture slate, which is fully financed with production already completed on two films and three more slated for this year. Concourse is also helping develop and produce.

Reba McEntire gave an incredible performance of the National Anthem at the 2024 Super Bowl and you can watch video of the moment right here!

Annika Pham Copenhagen-based DR Sales has snapped up international rights on the anticipated opening film of the 21st CPH:DOX Festival, “Life and Other Problems.” Variety debuts the trailer below. The playful existential film by Danish documentary filmmaker Max Kestner (“Blue Collar White Christmas,” “Amateurs in Space”) is shepherded by Denmark’s Bullitt Film (Prix Europa for “Absolute Beginners”), with Ruben Östlund’s Swedish banner Plattform Produktion and the U.K.’s Hopscotch Films (“Story of Film”).

Almost a thousand pro-Palestine protesters marched into Manchester city centre in the latest demonstration. People held placards and led chants as they made their way from Platt Fields Park in Fallowfield to the city centre, eventually stopping at the Mechanics Institute on Princess Street.

Sundance Film Festival premiere. It’s an interesting home for the documentary, because Reeve experienced his greatest commercial success playing the Man of Steel in the first four Superman movies, which Warner Bros. produced.