Talent Agent Josh Rahm Joins Verve

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefChinese filmmaker, artist and influencer Yi Zhou has launched a cluster of companies that have begun making feature movies for the metaverse.Zhou, who departed China in 2011, trained in Paris and London, before settling in Rome for several years where she worked as an installation artist, fashion influencer for Chinese streaming site Tudou (now part of Alibaba) and short film director. Three of her shorts have played in Sundance, while another played at the Venice Festival.In 2018, Zhou relocated to Los Angeles in order to increase her focus on developing entertainment endeavors.

In her television series acting debut, supermodel Bella Hadid has joined the upcoming third season of Hulu comedy Ramy in a recurring role. Details of her character and storyline are being kept under wraps for now. Stay tuned.

Peter Debruge Chief Film CriticNo matter what your image of modern China, it’s nowhere near complete until you’ve seen it through New York-based, China-observing director Jessica Kingdon’s eyes. Working in the mold of photographers Lauren Greenfield (“Queen of Versailles”) and Edward Burtynsky (“Manufactured Landscapes”), the Tribeca Film Festival winner trains her camera on the impacts of China’s fast-exploding economy in the Oscar-nominated “Ascension,” leaving audiences with striking and frequently absurd scenes burned into their imaginations.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefColumbia Pictures’ 2021 horror-thriller “Escape Room: Tournament of Champions” has been given official approval to release in cinemas in mainland China. It will launch on Saturday April 2, 2022.Directed by Adam Robitel, it is the sequel to the psychological thriller “Escape Room” that terrified audiences around the world in 2019. In the new installment, six people unwittingly find themselves locked in another series of escape rooms, slowly uncovering what they have in common to survive.The film was released in many international markets and in North America in July last year.

A trio of studio movies has received China release date confirmations for next month, including new films Ambulance and The Bad Guys, as well as last summer’s Escape Room: Tournament Of Champions.

Gene Maddaus Senior Media WriterAn Italian TV host was slated to appear in a Los Angeles courtroom this week to give testimony in the rape and sexual assault case against Harvey Weinstein.But the host, Pascal Vicedomini, did not show up, after his attorney informed prosecutors last week that he would remain in Italy.Vicedomini is the founder of several film festivals, including the L.A. Italia Film, Fashion and Art Fest, which is being held this week at the TCL Chinese Theatre in Hollywood.Before his downfall in 2017, Weinstein was a regular guest at Vicedomini’s festivals, and according to court records the two were close friends.In 2013, Weinstein flew to Los Angeles to attend the L.A.

Ed Meza @edmezavarWith its focus on Costa Rica, the Málaga Festival Industry Zone (MAFIZ) is showcasing the central American country’s bourgeoning film sector and talent with presentations of feature films, works in progress, projects in development and the country’s scenic locations and support opportunties.Costa Rican filmmakers and their projects are participating in MAFIZ’s various sections, including the Malaga Festival Fund & Co-Production Event (MAFF); Málaga Work in Progress; Málaga Talent and Hack Málaga.Nicole Chi’s documentary “Guián” and Daniel Ross Mix’s “El Zoológico de la Milla 70” (“70 Mile Zoo”) are the two Costa Rican projects taking part in the Work in Progress section. In “Guián,” Chi chronicles her own personal journey of discovery as she travels to China following the death of her grandmother Guián.

EXCLUSIVE: WME has signed Miranda Kwok, the creator, writer, actor and producer best known for creating and exec producing Fox’s crime drama The Cleaning Lady, for representation.

The new season of “Canada’s Got Talent” got off to a fantastic start on Tuesday night.

After spending 90 minutes watching major league celebrity chef Jose Andres hustling to deliver food to desperate people in far-flung corners of the globe, it’s almost shocking to see him being tripped up simply because his little plane has run out of gas. By this time, you believe that this guy could just keep running on fumes indefinitely.

Late cinematographer Halyna Hutchins' family is in Kyiv preparing "for the worst," according to her husband Matthew Hutchins. Matthew shared the news about Hutchins' parents on his personal Twitter account on Friday. "Halyna's sister, Svetlana, made it safely from Kyiv to Romania with her 3 yr old daughter and will continue onward to Western Europe," he wrote.

EXCLUSIVE: Kaplan/Perrone Entertainment has promoted Dana Cox and Quincie Li to managers in the literary department.

SEVENTEEN are set to release new music in May, their label Pledis Entertainment has confirmed.South Korean news outlet Star News first claimed in a report earlier today (March 17) that the boy group would be releasing their fourth full-length album this May. The report has since been confirmed by Pledis Entertainment, in a new statement to Top Star News. “SEVENTEEN are preparing to make a comeback with a full-length studio album in May,” Pledis Entertainment wrote, as translated by Soompi. The forthcoming record will notably mark the 13-piece’s first domestic comeback of 2022, and will arrive seven months after their October 2021 mini-album ‘Attacca’ mini-album.The upcoming project will also be the group’s fourth full-length album, coming almost three years after their previous record ‘An Ode’, which dropped in September 2019.

Rebecca Souw Chinese-owned streaming platform iQiyi added its first Thai original series and two additional shows from Taiwan to its slate of content destined for markets outside mainland China.The additions were revealed Thursday as part of the Hong Kong FilMart rights market being held virtually this year for the third time. The Thai series is “KinnPorsche,” a ‘boys love’ action series starring Mile Phakphum Romsaithong (“Ladytwenty” and “Khamin Rak Kap Poon”) and Apo Nattawin Wattanagitiphat (“Chart Suer Pun Mungkorn” and “Pra Teap Rak Hang Jai”).The Taiwanese productions, “Lesson in Love” and “Oh No! Here Comes Trouble” are both set in high school.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefAnson Lo, part of Hong Kong pop sensation Mirror, has joined the cast of “Chungking Mansions,” an ambitious zombie film that is currently in advanced preparation.Alongside Lo, Hong Kong-Canadian actresses Selena Lee and Jeannie Chan, Korean star Choi Si-Hun, and Hong Kong actor Louis Cheung join the previously announced Japanese action star Rina Takeda and Singaporean actors Desmond Tan and Rebecca Lim.Davika Hoorne, who previously starred in “Pee Mak,” Thailand’s highest grossing film of all time, will also join. She takes over a role previously assigned to Angel Locsin as the assistant to the American protagonist’s pregnant wife.Directed by banker turned producer and director Bizhan Tong (“The Escort”), the film tracks a diverse group of people who, following a zombie attack, try to break into Chungking Mansions.

EXCLUSIVE: Wu Assassins star Lawrence Kao is set as a lead opposite Matt Barr in CBS Studios’ CW pilot Walker: Independence, executive produced by Jared Padalecki.

Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Really Useful Group has hired former MGM TV executive Charles Farmer to the newly created role of CEO.