Variety Studio Returns to Sundance With Virtual Interviews in Collaboration With Audible

J. Kim Murphy Julian Fowles, a film and television producer who worked at KCET and Esparza/Katz Productions, died in a hospital in Miami, Flor. on Saturday while recovering from a stroke.

Prince Harry has shared rare insight into his children Archie, two, and seven month old Lilibet's routine at home in their California mansion. The Duke of Sussex, 37, who is "laying low" as he "doesn't want to cause anymore upset" according to an expert, appeared in a live stream with close pal Serena Williams and the founder of mental health start up BetterUp, Alexi Robichaux, on Thursday 3 February to talk about "mental fitness". During their discussions, Harry shared how he has previously "experienced burnout" and feels he must meditate every day now.

In one particular, progressive Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón doesn’t differ from his predecessors: He is against opening court and prosecutorial behavior in the Roman Polanski sex case to public inspection—at least not until the fugitive Polanski returns from abroad to face sentencing.

Audible best-sellers for the week ending January 28:Nonfiction1. Atomic Habits by James Clear, narrated by the author (Penguin Audio)2. Will by Will Smith and Mark Manson, narrated by Will Smith (Penguin Audio)3.

Bleecker Street has acquired U.S. rights to the dramatic thriller 892, starring John Boyega (Star Wars franchise) and the late Michael Kenneth Williams (The Wire), which recently made its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival in U.S. Dramatic Competition and won its Special Jury Award for Ensemble Cast. The independently-financed distributor is planning a late summer release in theaters nationwide.

Eight episode series Pam and Tommy is ready to take screens by storm as it lands on 2 February. The series looks at Pamela’s relationship with musician Tommy Lee, and the aftermath of their honeymoon sex tape being leaked after it was stolen from their home and sold on the internet in 1995. And the stars of the show are most certainly Lily James, who plays Pamela, and Sebastian Stan, who stars as Tommy.The series isn't without its raunchy scenes, as you might expect, and Lily and Sebastian certainly captivate with their acting abilities in the intriguing Disney+ series.

The deals keep coming at the 2022 Virtual Sundance Film Festival. MUBI closed the docu Free Chol Soo Lee, including North America, and Warner Bros is negotiating a near $7 million WW rights deal for the Tig Notaro/Stephanie Allynne film Am I Ok? to place the film on HBO Max. The Lauren Pomerantz-scripted film stars Dakota Johnson, Sonoya Mizuno, Jermaine Fowler, Molly Gordon, June Diane Raphael, and Sean Hayes.

The Sundance Film Festival is revealing award winners for its 2022 edition on Friday afternoon beginning at 2 p.m. PT. Like the rest of this year’s festival, which was forced to go all-virtual because of the recent Omicron surge, the awards ceremony is playing out on Twitter.

Apple has closed the biggest deal of the 2022 Virtual Sundance Film Festival, securing worldwide rights to the Cooper Raiff-directed Cha Cha Real Smooth for around $15 million. The streamer has been the front runner for the picture since it premiered January 23 in the US Dramatic Competition category.

Todd Spangler NY Digital EditorAudible has been in the audio-content biz for more than 20 years. Now, amid the recent podcast explosion, the Amazon-owned premium audio storytelling platform is aggressively investing in original and exclusive content — including a burgeoning slate from high-profile Hollywood talent.On the latest episode of Variety’s “Strictly Business” podcast — it’s a meta podcast about podcasts! — Rachel Ghiazza, EVP, and head of U.S.

At first glance, actor-writer-director Cooper Raiff’s “Cha Cha Real Smooth” might look like your typical cutesy and whimsical Sundance dramedy, about a twenty-something college graduate learning a valuable life lesson and experiencing a bit of a delayed coming of age. While that’s not an inaccurate description of Raiff’s disarmingly lovely film (programmed in this year’s US Dramatic Competition), what feels miraculous about “Cha Cha” is: it doesn’t come with even an ounce of that cringe-inducing Sundance fancifulness, a brand that many love to hate.

NEW YORK -- Rarely have past and present mingled in a documentary the way they do in “Descendant,” a nonfiction account of the last known ship to bring African captives to the American South for enslavement.Margaret Brown's “Descendant," which recently premiered at the virtual Sundance Film Festival, chronicles the discovery of the ship, a 90-foot-long wooden schooner that was secretly burned and sunk near Mobile, Alabama, after it was used to illegally take and enslave 100 Africans on a trip across the Atlantic in the mid-19th century, decades after the international slave trade had been outlawed.“Descendant” closely documents the finding of the Clotilda, which was confirmed in 2019. For locals, it's a long overdue affirmation of a long-obscured history that for a century was little spoken of.

EXCLUSIVE: Searchlight Pictures has emerged as the favorite to acquire Good Luck To You, Leo Grande, the Sophie Hyde-directed drama that stars Emma Thompson as a widow who decides to seek out something that has eluded her over a 31-year marriage: a proper, mind-blowing, toe-curling orgasm. Negotiations are underway and will hopefully climax into the first narrative film deal at 2022 Sundance, after a weekend of foreplay but no consummation beyond the docu Fire of Love.

As you know, the in person festival was canceled due to rising concerns of the omicron variant of Covid-19 and it has moved to an online screening format for press and attendees.