Telefonica, Movistar Plus Forge New Paths

Anna Marie de la Fuente In a deal unveiled at Mipcom, Movistar Plus+ International, the prominent Spanish pay TV/SVOD platform’s sales division, announced at Mipcom a key sale to HBO Latin America of series “La Mesías,” hailed as the buzziest title at the San Sebastian Film Festival in September. The series is written, directed and produced by Javier Ambrossi and Javier Calvo of Suma Content, best known for their series “Veneno,” an HBO Max U.S. pickup, as well as “Paquita Salas,” sold to Netflix.

Emiliano De Pablos Spain’s TV fiction industry is exercising some caution after high-end Spanish-language series lifted off in 2018. “We all wanted to launch so many projects, so many new platforms arrived that there was no time for analysis,” says Bambú co-founder Ramón Campos. As streamers scale back on originals and sales cycles slow, the industry has time for larger re-calculation.

EXCLUSIVE: Lion Forge Entertainment has set a first-look deal with award-winning Nigerian creator and producer Roye Okupe. YouNeek Studios founder and YouNeek YouNiverse creator Okupe recently teamed with Lion Forge on the animated fantasy series Iyanu, based on Okupe’s graphic novel Iyanu: Child of Wonder. Production is currently underway for the Cartoon Network and Max animated series, which Lion Forge will introduce to global distributors at MIPCOM next week.

PBS is one of the few channels that has been considered “strike proof,” meaning, it was not heavily impacted by the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes that affected the writers and actors.

Taylor Swift has been spotted out and about this past summer more than she has been in years, and we love to see it!

Immortal Songs live concert in New York has had its venue downgraded from MetLife Stadium to the Prudential Center.The event is set to take place on October 26 and will feature performances from NewJeans, ATEEZ, Psy and g.o.d member Kim Tae-woo. Singers Lena Park, Patti Kim and Young Tak will also appear, as will indie rock duo Jannabi.An official announcement from organisers Studio PAV yesterday (October 9) confirmed the venue change.

There’s a new show in the Drag Race universe!

EXCLUSIVE: Scott Bakula will return to the New York stage this winter in an Off Broadway, world premiere production of the new musical The Connector, conceived and directed by Daisy Prince with music and lyrics by Tony winner Jason Robert Brown (Parade) and a book by Jonathan Marc Sherman.

Taylor Swift has been spotted out and about this summer more than she has been in years, and we love to see it!

Taylor Swift brought so many of her celebrity friends to the Kansas City Chiefs vs. New York Jets football game and we’ve identified nearly every person sitting in her private suite!

Gene Maddaus Senior Media Writer Gov. Gavin Newsom has vetoed a bill giving unemployment benefits to striking workers, which was backed by the Writers Guild of America and SAG-AFTRA. “Now is not the time to increase costs or incur this sizable debt,” he wrote in his veto message Saturday.

We’ve already shared photos of Taylor Swift arriving at a Saturday night group dinner with some famous friends, but now a second car full of more friends has arrived!

Hackney Diamonds. “Sweet Sounds Of Heaven” showcases the iconic lineup of Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Ronnie Wood, and Steve Jordan, with the added brilliance of Stevie Wonder’s piano accompaniment.

John Hopewell Chief International Correspondent In 2017, Movistar Plus, Spain’s biggest SVOD-pay TV player, rocked the San Sebastian Festival, the highest-profile movie event in Spain and Latin America region, with “The Plague,” the biggest series ever made in Spain. Movistar Plus, owned by Telefónica, looks set to make waves again at this week’s San Sebastian by world premiering another big, bold series: “La Mesías.” It’s written, directed and produced by Javier Ambrossi and Javier Calvo – known in Spain as Los Javis – marking their follow-up to overseas breakout “Veneno,” a raunchy but highly grounded bio of Spanish trans icon Cristina Ortiz.

Michael Schneider Variety Editor at Large The 44th Annual News & Documentary Emmy Awards kicked off the first of two nights on Wednesday in New York, with CNN, Vice and the New York Times as among the big winners. CNN led the news portion of the Emmys, with ten wins — followed closely by Vice, with nine, and then the NYT with five.

CNN, Vice, and the New York Times were among the big winners on the first of two nights for the 44th annual News & Documentary Emmy Awards. CNN led the news portion of the Emmys with ten wins, with trailing Vice winning nine and the New York Times with five.

The news that Rupert Murdoch was stepping down as chairman of Fox Corp. and News Corp. quickly triggered talk of his legacy, overshadowing one aspect of his announcement: Whether it comes to politics or to his companies’ media properties, he’s not going away.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor A major transition at the top of a big company typically spells significant change. Just ask anyone who has worked for CNN while parent company WarnerMedia passed along to AT&T and then the new Warner Bros. Discovery.

Rupert Murdoch, the 92-year-old Australian media magnate whose creation of Fox News made him a force in American politics, is stepping down as leader of both Fox’s parent company and his News Corp. media holdings.

Pete Davidson can’t get enough of the Garden State.After gigs in Atlantic City and Montclair earlier this year, the “King of Staten Island” just added two more NJ shows to his tour schedule later this year.First up, the “Saturday Night Live” alum is slated to headline at Red Bank’s Hackensack Meridian Health Theatre on Saturday, Nov. 18.After that, Davidson will take the stage the following night at Englewood’s Bergen Performing Arts Center on Sunday, Nov.