WarnerMedia Pulls Plug On South Asia Channels; Ex-Sky Studios Sales Chief Joins Rainmaker; DLT Entertainment Invests In Gag Reflex; Kidscreen Goes Virtual — Global Briefs

When Tiler Peck started giving Instagram ballet classes from her mom's kitchen in California this spring — a way of staying in shape and keeping in touch with dance fans — she initially thought maybe 20 people would tune in.She was startled to discover that thousands of people were joining, from as far away as Iran and India, to take class with one of the world’s top ballerinas.

Naman Ramachandran Bhanu Athaiya, the costume designer who became the first Indian to win an Oscar, for Richard Attenborough’s “Gandhi” (1982), died at her home in Mumbai Thursday after a prolonged illness. She was 91.Athaiya was suffering from a brain tumor for the last eight years, her daughter Radhika Gupta told news agency PTI.Athaiya was born in Kolhapur, western India, in 1929.

Naman Ramachandran WarnerMedia is pulling the plug on linear channel HBO in India and Pakistan. It will also terminate the WB movie channel in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and the Maldives from Dec.

Top Bollywood filmmakers and industry unions have filed a lawsuit against two popular TV news channels, asking them to refrain from "irresponsible, derogatory and defamatory remarks against Bollywood and its members." The lawsuit, filed Monday, comes months after India’s freewheeling television news channels took on Bollywood, India's Hindi-language film industry based in Mumbai, with a spree of allegations following the suspected suicide of actor Sushant Singh Rajput in June.

NEW DELHI -- Top Bollywood filmmakers and industry unions have filed a lawsuit against two popular TV news channels, asking them to refrain from "irresponsible, derogatory and defamatory remarks against Bollywood and its members."The lawsuit, filed Monday, comes months after India’s freewheeling television news channels took on Bollywood, India's Hindi-language film industry based in Mumbai, with a spree of allegations following the suspected suicide of actor Sushant Singh Rajput in June.The

India Oxenberg is finally ready to open up about her debilitating descent into NXIVM.

India Oxenberg is breaking her silence on life inside NXIVM, the sex cult led by convicted guru Keith Raniere, who is now facing life in prison. Oxenberg and her mother, Dynasty starCatherine Oxenberg, have been a focus of HBO's true-crime series on NXIVM, The Vow.

India Oxenberg is opening up.

“Dynasty” star Catherine Oxenberg and her daughter India are opening up about India’s experiences as an alleged victim of Keith Raniere and Allison Mack’s NXIVM sex cult.

Naman Ramachandran Bollywood legend Amitabh Bachchan will join Indian cinema stars Prabhas and Deepika Padukone in an as yet untitled film that will be one of the big ticket Indian films of 2022.It is being produced by Aswini Dutt’s Vyjayanthi Movies and will be released in time to commemorate the outfit’s 50th anniversary in 2022. Nag Ashwin (“Mahanati,” “Yevade Subramanyam”) will direct.“Welcome aboard @SrBachchan sir, it is our honor to have you.

Tom Grater, Nancy Tartaglione Focus Features has struck a deal for Wolf, an Irish drama starring George MacKay and Lily-Rose Depp. The Screen Ireland-backed picture recently wrapped after a COVID-19-safe shoot.

WarnerMedia has named Jean-Paul “JP” Colaco as its new head of advertising sales. One of his first assignments: launching HBO Max's ad-supported offering in 2021.

Jill Goldsmith Co-Business EditorTwitter said Thursday it’s hired Tracy McGraw, former head of communications at Tyler Perry Studios, as Senior Director of Global Consumer Communications.McGraw will lead consumer communications and media campaigns for the social media giant’s product launches, partner announcements and cultural events, reporting to Brandon Borrman, Vice President, Global Communications, Twitter.“We couldn’t be luckier to have Tracy joining this team,” said Borrman.

Schitt’s Creek co-creator and star Dan Levy has called out the censorship of a gay kiss from the show.Levy, who plays David in the show, criticised Comedy Central India for editing out a kiss between his character and Dustin Milligan’s character, Ted, from a clip on social media.The clip in question sees a number of characters playing spin the bottle, and includes a kiss between Stevie and Alexis, two women, but has censored the one between two men.“You showed the kiss between two women, you

Jake Kanter International TV EditorDisney APAC Boss Uday Shankar Quits Uday Shankar, president of The Walt Disney Company Asia Pacific and chairman, Star & Disney India, is to step down at the end of 2020 after less than two years in the role. Shankar said he intends to pursue new entrepreneurial opportunities to “give back to the country.” Before stepping down, he will work with Rebecca Campbell, chair of Disney’s direct-to-consumer and international segment, to identify a successor.

Naman Ramachandran Uday Shankar will step down as president, The Walt Disney Company Asia Pacific and chairman, Star & Disney India, effective Dec. 31, 2020.

Lizzo celebrated “Plus Size Appreciation Day” on Tuesday by sharing a video as she posed in a figure-hugging gold dress. The “Truth Hurts” singer wore the mesh gown for a photoshoot.

Naman Ramachandran S.S. Rajamouli, director of the enormously successful “Baahubali” franchise, has restarted his next magnum opus “RRR” (Roudram Ranam Rudhiram) in Hyderabad with stars N.T.