‘The Office’ Executive Producer Anil Gupta Joins Sky Studios To Lead In-House Comedy

debut on Disney+ in December. He is represented by CAA, LBI Entertainment and Rogers & Cowan/PMK.Perry is represented by WME and Mortimer PR, while Strahelski is represented by WME, Mortimer PR and attorney Tara Kole of Gang, Tyre, Ramer, Brown & Passman.

Nellie Andreeva, Denise Petski EXCLUSIVE: Former Angie Tribeca star Hayes MacArthur is set as a lead opposite Lucy Liu in ABC’s Untitled Workplace Comedy (fka Kids Matter Now) pilot from Better with You creator Shana Goldberg-Meehan, CBS Studios and 20th TV.Your Complete Guide to Pilots and Straight-to-Series ordersWritten and executive produced by Goldberg-Meehan and to be directed by Christine Gernon (Speechless) the Untitled Workplace Comedy (fka Kids Matter Now) centers on a diva boss (Liu)

Andreas Wiseman International EditorEXCLUSIVE: UK sci-fi-drama film Infinitum: Subject Unknown has been picked up by Blue Finch Films for distribution in the UK, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand. From producers Fizz and Ginger Films, the film is written by and stars Tori Butler-Hart (Two Down) with cameo roles for Lord Of The Rings star Ian McKellen and Conleth Hill (Game of Thrones).

Christopher Vourlias “Game of Thrones” co-executive producer Vince Gerardis is setting up a production company in Italy, Variety has learned.The new venture, dubbed CIAO, or Creatività Italiana Americana Organizzata, is the latest move from the Miami-based executive, who specializes in packaging and selling large-scale, world-building film and television projects based on literary properties.Gerardis is in talks with an Italian publisher for a deal that would give CIAO access to a range of

Jake Kanter International TV EditorWarnerMedia Pulls Plug On South Asia Channels WarnerMedia has announced that it plans to close its linear HBO and WB TV channels in India, Pakistan, Maldives, and Bangladesh from December 15.

Alexandra Del Rosario Associate Editor/Nights & WeekendsHBO Max has announced the lead cast for its upcoming comedy The Sex Lives of College Girls. Set to star in the new series written and produced by Mindy Kaling are Pauline Chalamet, Amrit Kaur, Renée Rapp and Alyah Chanelle Scott.

Nellie Andreeva Co-Editor-in-Chief, TVEXCLUSIVE: The CW is developing Slay, a drama executive produced by Oscar and Emmy winner Regina King.Your Complete Guide to Pilots and Straight-to-Series ordersWritten by Julian Johnson with former CSI: NY showrunner Pam Veasey supervising, Slay centers on Carson Jones, a bold, witty teenager with afro puffs, leather boots, seventies cool, and – thanks to her mother’s ancient African bloodline – supernatural gifts and the responsibility to use them to

Nellie Andreeva Co-Editor-in-Chief, TVEXCLUSIVE: CBS’ new Chuck Lorre-Marco Pennette multi-camera comedy series B Positive has firmed up its regular cast and has set a number of recurring players.Young actress Izzy G, who played the co-lead AJ opposite RuPaul on the Netflix comedy series AJ and the Queen, has joined the main cast as a series regular opposite leads Thomas Middleditch and Annaleigh Ashford.

Nick Vivarelli International CorrespondentProduction of TV dramas is back on track in Italy after a pandemic-prompted pause just as several hot new Italian shows, such as Luca Guadagnino’s “We Are Who We Are,” are hitting international screens and markets.Pay-TV platform Sky Italia, which partnered with HBO on Guadagnino’s “We Are Who We Are,” has a slew of shows in various stages, including two very different ancient Rome skeins.

Naman Ramachandran HBO Max will be the exclusive U.S. home for drama comedy “I Hate Suzie,” originally commissioned by the U.K.’s Sky Studios, with Bad Wolf (“His Dark Materials”) producing.

Variety Staff Follow Us on TwitterVariety will host “Innovators in Media Technology Management,” a panel with leading executives, in the Variety Streaming Room presented by Western Digital on Oct. 22 at 9:30 a.m.

Naman Ramachandran Fatima Salaria, managing director of Fremantle-backed outfit Naked, is the new executive chair of The Edinburgh TV Festival and its umbrella charity The TV Foundation, taking over from So Television co-founder Graham Stuart who is leaving after three years in the position.Salaria (pictured, left) will oversee the festival and foundation’s executive committee and work with the festival team across the operational side of the organization as well as in its charitable

BAFTA-winning writer and producer Anil Gupta has joined Sky Studios, the production arm of Comcast-owned pay TV giant Sky, as creative director for original comedy in the U.K. Gupta’s credits include Goodness Gracious Me, The Kumars at No.

Veteran live-event producer Jesse Collins has been tapped to executive produce The Pepsi Super Bowl LV Halftime Show next year. The National Football League, RocNation and Pepsi said Tuesday that the Emmy-nominated producer will join longtime award-winning director Hamish Hamilton for the halftime show of the game, which is set to take place Feb.

Denise Petski Senior Managing EditorEmmy-nominated producer Jesse Collins has been tapped as an executive producer of the 2021 Super Bowl halftime show. The announcement Tuesday by the NFL, Jay Z’s RocNation and Pepsi make Collins the halftime show’s first ever Black producer.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorThe National Football League, Roc Nation and Pepsi announced today that Emmy- nominated producer Jesse Collins has been named an executive producer of the Pepsi Super Bowl LV Halftime Show, taking place in Tampa, Florida on Super Bowl Sunday, February 7, 2021. He is the show’s first-ever Black executive producer.Collins joins executive producers Roc Nation, who debuted in that role earlier this year with a halftime performance starring Jennifer Lopez and Shakira.

Carrie Underwood has a very special guest on her new holiday album My Gift.