VFX Company Jellyfish Pictures Sets New Leadership Team, Hires Including Technicolor & MPC Execs

It’s been a productive and exciting time for Rita Wilson — the esteemed actress, producer and singer-songwriter who has returned this awards season with her third Oscar-qualifying original song. 

EXCLUSIVE: After months of rumors and a three month exclusive negotiating period, Anonymous Content is now near a deal to acquire the prolific production company Automatik. There’s a twist here: Deadline reported that Anonymous was in talks for Grandview/Automatik. But The Dish hears that Grandview won’t be part of the transaction and will remain a freestanding rep company.

EXCLUSIVE: Mark Gordon Pictures has tapped playwright John J. Caswell Jr. to adapt a stage musical of the acclaimed short documentary The Flagmakers, from Oscar winner Cynthia Wade and AFI Doc Award winner Sharon Liese. The New York Public Theater’s associate artistic director Saheem Ali is attached to direct.

The Warner Bros. Discovery Global Brands and Experiences division unveiled the global leadership for its consumer products business, formalizing the marriage of legacy Warner Bros. and Discovery operations. Canada and U.S. are now integrated into one North American team, and major international regions managed together. The company also created a global e-commerce unit.

Studio Ghibli today announced that renowned filmmaker Hayao Miyazaki will release a new film titled How Do You Live in Japanese theaters on July 14, 2023.

The Los Angeles Film Critics Association Awards split the difference on its Best Picture award, naming “Everything Everywhere All At Once” and “Tar” in a tie.

Communications firm The Lippin Group has promoted longtime senior executives Pam Golum, Jim Benson and Jennifer Price-Keith as well as upping Nazli Simno to VP of business operations.

Yul Vázquez is teaming up with Forest Whitaker in the upcoming third season of Godfather of Harlem as a new series regular.

EXCLUSIVE: Veteran actress, producer and singer-songwriter Rita Wilson has today announced the launch of Artistic Films — a film production company that will look to tell inspirational stories of hope that resonate with audiences across wide demographics.  

With another winning performance at the World Cup, this time defeating Poland in the round of 16, the French national football team also led broadcaster TF1 to yet another ratings record for the year. An average 14.3 million viewers tuned in to see Les Bleus notch a 3-1 victory on Sunday, from the 4pm hour local time. This is the best score for all channels across 2022 and since July 2021. The audience share was 68.9%.

It’s that time of year when critics revisit the films they have watched over the past 11 months and determine what is worthy and what isn’t. Of the prominent critics’ groups, the New York Film Critics Circle is up first this time around and they have anointed Todd Field’s “TAR” as the Best Film of 2022.

EXCLUSIVE: George Stephanopoulos and Ali Wentworth have launched BedBy8, a production company focused on scripted television projects, limited series and documentaries. Former White House Deputy Chief of Staff Alyssa Mastromonaco serves as President of the company.

EXCLUSIVE: David Peter Bloom was a Wall Street whiz kid convicted of securities fraud for defrauding investors of almost $15M and earlier this summer was arrested on suspicion of 12 counts of grand theft in LA for a scheme run out of Hollywood hipster dive bar Frolic Room that entangled The Hills star Caroline D’Amore.

Ben Affleck says his newly minted studio Artists Equity, in partnership with Matt Damon, is going for films that are commercial but smart, that acknowledge popular tastes, but that “people remember 20 years later.”

The Motion Picture Sound Editors said today that Gwendolyn Yates Whittlewill receive its 2023 MPSE Career Achievement Award during the group’s 70th annual Golden Reel Awards in February.

Broadway’s long-running The Phantom of the Opera, which has enjoyed a big box office upswing since announcing in September that it would close on February 18, won’t be making its exit quite so soon. Producer Cameron Mackintosh has given the show an eight-week extension, with a new closing date of April 16.

John Dartigue, a 22-year Warner Bros executive who rose to VP Publicity and supervised campaigns for such hits as The Fugitive and The Dark Knight and after starting his career at United Artists and working on the first 10 James Bonds pics, has died. He was 82.