‘The Fabelmans’ Wins Audience Award at Toronto Film Festival

Clayton Davis Jordan Peele is looking to push boundaries as a writer, director and producer every time he creates something new. “I’m going to keep trying to come up with original stories, and meet the expectations the audience has for me,” Peele says. “I hope to continue to lift original filmmakers up.” On this episode of the award-winning Variety Awards Circuit Podcast, we sit down with Academy Award winner Peele to discuss his two feature film projects in the awards conversation: the sci-fi horror film “Nope,” which he wrote and directed, and the animated feature “Wendell & Wild,” which he voiced, co-wrote and produced. Also on the episode, he talks about his long friendship and collaboration with Keegan-Michael Key, and whether fans might ever see the comedy duo reboot their beloved Comedy Central and Emmy-winning sketch series “Key & Peele.”

was released last year. Wednesday’s report revealed that though Latinos make up 18% of the U.S.

William Earl The Gotham Film & Media Institute (The Gotham) announced today the launch of The Gotham/Variety Audio Honors, presented by Wondery, a groundbreaking initiative dedicated to recognizing the boldest voices in the ever-expanding world of audio storytelling. The honorees have been selected in recognition of their innovations in audio storytelling by a committee of distinguished audio industry professionals, chaired by award-winning podcast creator, producer and new host of NPR’s “It’s Been a Minute,” Brittany Luse. The Gotham/Variety Audio Honors are set to take place in person as a luncheon and a staged presentation in New York City on Friday, Oct. 14. “As an organization dedicated to celebrating and nurturing independent creators, we are proud to recognize these brilliant, innovative, and groundbreaking audio storytellers,” said Jeffrey Sharp, Executive Director of The Gotham Film & Media Institute. “As audio content reaches a pivotal point of engagement and innovation, it is crucial that we launch new platforms of recognition, such as The Gotham/Variety Audio Honors, to celebrate the most daring creators in our industry.”

Naman Ramachandran Neil Maskell, whose acting credits include “Kill List” and “Peaky Blinders,” makes his feature directorial debut with “Klokkenluider,” which is playing at the BFI London Film Festival. A dark comic thriller, the film revolves around a hapless government whistleblower and his partner who hide out in a remote Belgian cottage, accompanied by two eccentric bodyguards. “‘Klokkenluider’ came out of a combination of circumstances. I was on holiday in East Flanders and the atmosphere of the house we were staying in set off some voices in my head. There were four characters and they were trapped there but it took me a while to work out who they were” Maskell told Variety.

Die Hard star stepped away from acting earlier this year after being diagnosed with aphasia – a condition that affects language and speech. Now, Bruce, 67, has become the first Hollywood star to sell his rights to the tech firm Deepcake, allowing his moving and talking image to be used in films and TV and for movie actors past and present to star on screen together. As revealed in the documentary Tech To The Future, the groundbreaking deal paves the way for dead performers to be brought back to life, with Bruce previously ‘starring’ in a Russian phone advert with engineers attaching his digitally-created head to a human body double.

Karen Bliss Look what he’s done, indeed. The Weeknd finally brought his stadium tour home to Toronto on Thursday night for the first of two dates at the 45,000-capacity Rogers Centre — more than two months after a bizarre country-wide wireless outage caused the postponement of the show’s originally scheduled date, leaving the artist “crushed and heartbroken.” The magnitude of the belated moment was not lost on the man also known as Abel Tesfaye, who paused several times to soak it in with a megawatt smile, blowing kisses to the crowd. “Toronto, look what you’ve fuckin’ done,” he said from his sprawling stage set, which includes a miniature version of the Toronto skyline, as the real one towered behind him.

MGM and The Black List have named Alex Liu as the third recipient to receive a two-step Guild minimum open script deal as part of their two-year feature film script writing partnership.

Wendell & Wild, the upcoming Netflix movie directed by Henry Selick that features the voices of Jordan Peele, Angela Bassett, Keegan-Michael Key and Lyric Ross, has been selected as the opening-night film for Animation Is Film, the growing animation festival that will run October 21-23 and October 29 at the TCL Chinese 6 Theaters in Hollywood.

EXCLUSIVE: Kyle Laursen is joining Justin Simien’s production company Culture Machine as President of Film and Television, where he will oversee all scripted and unscripted projects. Laursen will work alongside the award-winning Simien, and Creative Executive, Aaliyah Jihad. Culture Machine currently has an overall deal with Paramount Television Studios.

Conor McGregor has admitted he "can't believe" he's being paid to film a Hollywood remake of Road House. McGregor, 34, is currently in the Dominican Republic completing his filming duties for his role in the remake of the 1989 action film, which featured blockbuster stars such as Patrick Swayze and Sam Elliott.

EXCLUSIVE: Filipino production company Daluyong Studios, which co-produced Plan 75, Japan’s Best International Feature submission for the Oscars, is partnering with Tan Si En’s Singapore-based Momo Film Co to co-produce a slate of features and documentaries.

The Voice‘s new season premieres in just days and we’re taking a look back to see which coaches have won the most seasons.

EJ Panaligan editor NewFest, a New York-based LGBTQ+ film festival, has announced the full lineup for its 34th iteration. The 2022 edition will run from Oct. 13 to Oct. 25. With world, North American, U.S. and New York premieres for more than 130 films from 23 countries, the festival will be headlined by the world premiere of HBO documentary “Mama’s Boy” from Laurent Bouzereau as the opening night screening. Additionally, the festival will hold an advance screening for the Season 2 premiere of popular HBO series “The White Lotus.” Other high-profile screenings through the festival’s run include Michael Grandage’s love triangle film “My Policeman,” starring Harry Styles and Emma Corrin, and the stop-motion horror comedy “Wendell & Wild,” from writer-director Henry Selick. Jordan Peele co-writes, while also featuring in a lead voice role. Keegan-Michael Key inhabits the film’s other lead voice role, marking a “Key & Peele” reunion on the animated stage between the two longtime collaborators.

Quinta Brunson’s voice is hoarse. The days of pre-award festivities leading up to the Sept. 12 ceremony were frantic, starting with Variety’s Showrunners Dinner (where she swapped war stories with fellow TV creators like Dan Harmon, Danny Strong and Liz Meriwether). Then came the Primetime Emmy Awards ceremony in downtown Los Angeles, the Governors Gala and Disney’s post-Emmy celebration, which spilled into the next day. Something had to give. Yet when the “Abbott Elementary” creator and star sits down for an in-depth interview with Variety, her creative voice is clear and strong.

Macro, the Oscar-winning film studio founded by Charles D. King, is getting into business with Amazon. Under the new deal, Amazon Studios has first look on feature film projects from the Judas and the Black Messiah producer, which intends to develop, package and produce for Prime Video. The  OTT service has a footprint in 240 countries around the globe.

Angelique Jackson Amazon Studios and Macro Film Studios have partnered for a new endeavor — a multiyear first-look film deal. Under the new pact, Amazon Studios will have first rights to feature film projects Macro will develop, package and produce for Prime Video, which is available in more than 240 countries and territories worldwide. News of the partnership was announced by Amazon Studios head Jennifer Salke, as well as Macro founder and CEO Charles D. King and Macro Film Studios president James F. Lopez. “With our ongoing goal to share MACRO Film Studios’ premium and acclaimed content to a global audience, there really is no better partner than Amazon Studios,” said King and Lopez in a joint statement. “Their reach extends to a national and international core and they are known the world over for a business acumen and long-horizon strategic thinking that is simply unmatched. We believe we will do great things together.”

Oscar-winning filmmaker Laura Poitras sharply criticized the Toronto and Venice film festivals today for programming documentaries connected with former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, suggesting the decision bordered on a “whitewashing” of history.

“I am a woman, I am an artist, and I know where my voice belongs”, Sheryl Lee Ralph sang onstage Monday, performing a few lines from Dianne Reeves’ “Endangered Species” after winning the Emmy for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series.