The Second City Names Sesame Workshop’s Ed Wells as CEO

Matt Donnelly Senior Film Writer The Gersh Agency has promoted literary agent Sandra Lucchesi and talent agent Matt Vioral to partners, expanding its total leadership to 28 people.  Gersh, which ranks as the lone privately-owned full service agency, makes the move amid consolidation and rapid ground-shifting in the representation landscape. A spokesperson told Variety the elevations serve to “highlight the strength and history of our resources while taking advance of our business around multi-hyphenate clients.” Agency co-presidents David and Bob Gersh, along with managing partner Leslie Siebert, said they were “very proud of the leadership Sandra and Matt have brought to the agency and their respective departments and how well respected they are by their industry peers. We are thrilled to promote them both to partner.”

Arctic Monkeys have added a second Manchester date to their 2023 UK and Ireland stadium tour following a huge early demand for tickets.The returning Sheffield four-piece will tour in the UK and Ireland in May and June next year, with tickets set to go on general sale here tomorrow morning (September 30).A pre-sale for the whole tour took place earlier this morning (September 29), with the pre-sale for the band’s initial Manchester date at Emirates Old Trafford on June 2, 2023 selling out.Arctic Monkeys will now play a second date at Emirates Old Trafford on June 3, 2023. Tickets for the new Manchester show, as well as the other dates of the band’s UK and Ireland tour, will go on general sale at 9am tomorrow.Arctic Monkeys announce a second Manchester date off the back of a sold out pre-sale this morning.

Netflix has stacked the cast for their upcoming live-action series, Avatar: The Last Airbender.

A sign that urges people not to give money to 'beggars' over fears they will spend it on drugs is going to be removed by the council. The plaque, which is the second spotted in Manchester city centre since June, comes with a metal box with a small gap in it for money to be slotted inside.

Foo Fighters once again brought Dave Chappelle on stage for a cover of Radiohead’s ‘Creep’ during the Taylor Hawkins Tribute Concert in Los Angeles last night (September 27).After celebrating Hawkins’ memory and music with a special six-hour gig in London earlier this month (September 3), ‘The Taylor Hawkins Tribute Concert’ took over LA’s Kia Forum on Tuesday evening, with a bounty of special guests.One of these was Dave Chappelle, who repeated the trick of covering Radiohead’s classic ‘Creep’ with Foo Fighters at their huge gig at Madison Square Garden in New York City last summer.Check out last night’s performance of ‘Creep’ below.Earlier in the show, Miley Cyrus teamed up with Foo Fighters and Def Leppard for an expansive version of Def Leppard’s 1983 hit ‘Photograph’ while Justin Hawkins took to the stage with late Foo Fighters drummer’s side project, The Coattail Riders, to perform a four-song set.Last night’s tribute gig started with an acoustic performance of ‘Hallelujah’ by Grohl’s daughter, Violet, featuring Alain Johannes. That was followed by a short set from the surviving Foos, Blink-182’s Travis Barker and Joan Jett, who performed two of the latter’s biggest hits from the ‘80s.Elsewhere, Pink joined forces with Foo Fighters and Queen to perform a rousing cover of ‘Somebody To Love’ – the song that Hawkins covered himself over the years.

Netflix’s Avatar: The Last Airbender has rounded out its cast, adding 20 actors, including George Takei, Utkarsh Ambudkar, Danny Pudi and Arden Cho.

Selome Hailu Netflix has rounded out the cast of its upcoming live-action adaptation of “Avatar: The Last Airbender,” with 20 new additions including George Takei, Utkarsh Ambudkar, Arden Cho and Danny Pudi. Playing characters in the Water Tribe are Amber Midthunder (“Prey,” “Roswell”) as Princess Yue, the compassionate spiritual leader of the Northern Water Tribe; A Martinez (“Cowboy Bebop,” “Ambulance”) as Pakku, the veteran waterbending master of the Northern Water Tribe and a fierce defender of their traditions; Irene Bedard (“Pocahontas,” “The Stand”) as Yagoda, an empathetic healer who serves as a role model for her tribe’s female waterbenders; Joel Oulette (“Trickster,” “Ruby and the Well”) as Hahn, a strong and skilled warrior with an unwavering loyalty to his tribe; Nathaniel Arcand (“Heartland,” “FBI: Most Wanted”) as Chief Arnook, father to Princess Yue and the respected leader of their tribe; and Meegwun Fairbrother (“Burden of Truth,” “Mohawk Girls”) as Avatar Kuruk, a previous Avatar with a haunted past.

Bolton Wanderers sit in the top six so far this season after playing the opening phase of the League One campaign.

The second week of Prime Video’s exclusive Thursday Night Football streams drew an average of 11.03 million viewers for a fairly low-wattage game between the Pittsburgh Steelers and Cleveland Browns.

L.S. Dunes have shared their huge second single – listen to ‘2022’ below.The band – fronted by Circa Survive‘s Anthony Green, with My Chemical Romance‘s Frank Iero, Coheed and Cambria‘s Travis Stever and Thursday‘s Tim Payne and Tucker Rule –announced their formation back in August, and played their first ever live gig at last week’s Riot Fest in Chicago.After sharing debut single ‘Permanent Rebellion’ upon the announcement of their formation, the band have now returned with ‘2022’, a song written about Green’s struggles with addiction that was written for his ‘Boom’ solo album but then reworked for L.S.

EXCLUSIVE: Amy Jephta, who directed South Africa’s most recent International Film Oscar entry, Barakat, will be showrunning the drama series Hanover Street from EPs Lesley-Ann Brandt (Lucifer, Spartacus), Adrian Cunningham, and Revelations Entertainment’s Lori McCreary and Morgan Freeman.

Thania Garcia In spring 2020, the U.S. came to terms with its role in racial inequality on the heels of a tragedy: the murder of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police. That singular moment compelled many, including those in the music business, to pledge funds and action. It also gave birth to the Black Music Action Coalition, a collective of Black creators, activists and change-makers who have diligently kept the issue in the headlines and on the minds of corporate parents.  On Sept. 22, the organization — whose leadership includes industry veterans Damien Smith, Caron Veazey and Shawn Holiday, among others — celebrates its second annual Music in Action gala in Beverly Hills, where honorees include Lil Baby, Sony Music Publishing chairman Jon Platt, 300 Elektra Entertainment’s Kevin Liles and 1619 Project creator Nikole Hannah-Jones. It promises to be a gathering of heavies, as last year’s inaugural fete — Variety is a media sponsor — drew the Weeknd, Motown chairwoman Ethiopia Habtemariam and attorney Ben Crump. 

EXCLUSIVE: Keshet International has secured rights to Cuba Libre, a buzzy drama about a follower of Cuban revolutionary Che Guevara that’s being billed as one of Portugal’s most ambitious television series ever. The six-part biopic, based on the life of Ana Maria Silva Pais, will form part of KI’s slate at Mipcom Cannes next month.

Florence Pugh and Chris Pine, were noticeably absent from the New York premiere. The A-list Hollywood actors appeared to skip the event after they were dragged into the ongoing drama that surrounds the psychological thriller. Pugh is said to be locked in a feud with director Olivia Wilde after reportedly disapproving of the way she began a relationship with leading man Harry Styles during filming and while still believed to be in a relationship with ex-fiancé Jason Sudeikis.

Manchester United have confirmed their full legends squad to face Liverpool at Anfield this Saturday at 3pm.