Warren Littlefield Sets New Overall Deal With 20th Television and ABC Signature, Plans Expansion Into Unscripted

Clayton Davis Anya Taylor-Joy, Billie Eilish, Sheryl Lee Ralph, Caitríona Balfe, Jamie Dornan and Disney exec Dana Walden are among the 397 artists and executives invited to join the membership of the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences. If all of this year’s invitees accept membership, it will bring the total number of Academy members to 10,665, with 9,665 eligible to vote for the 95th Oscars set to take place on March 12, 2023.The 2022 class is 44% women, 37% belong to underrepresented ethnic/racial communities, and 50% are from 53 countries and territories outside the United States.

Joe Otterson TV Reporter“The Old Man” has been renewed for Season 2 at FX.The drama series debuted on FX on June 16. The first season will consist of seven episodes total with the fourth set to air on June 30 before becoming available to stream on Hulu.Based on the novel of the same name by Thomas Perry, centers on Dan Chase (Jeff Bridges), who absconded from the CIA decades ago and has been living off the grid since. When an assassin arrives and tries to take Chase out, the old operative learns that to ensure his future he now must reconcile his past.The series also stars John Lithgow as Harold Harper, the FBI’s Assistant Director for Counterintelligence, as well as Alia Shawkat as Angela Adams, Harper’s protégé.

Naman Ramachandran Joe Donaldson, producer of “Peaky Blinders” and “Cobra,” has launched new production company Magic Hour Television and signed a first look deal with All3Media and New Pictures.Donaldson will develop a slate, funded by All3Media and All3Media International, and partner with New Pictures co-founder and CEO Willow Grylls, to produce new scripted television content. He will also serve as executive producer for New Pictures on the upcoming third series ‘Cobra: Rebellion’ for Sky Max, which is due to start filming later this year.Magic Hour is set up to produce human stories about life in Britain and beyond, tapping into U.K.

EXCLUSIVE: Brigitte Muñoz-Liebowitz, executive producer/showrunner of Gordita Chronicles, is extending her overall with Sony Pictures Television, the studio behind the coming-of-age HBO Max comedy series, which premieres today.

Michael Schneider Variety Editor at LargeAs Emmy nominations voting comes to a close this Monday, UCP and Starz have found one more way to expose their limited series “Gaslit” to potential voters: Free, over-the-air broadcast TV.The first episode of “Gaslit,” starring Julia Roberts and Sean Penn, will air on NBC-owned TV stations in key markets including New York, Los Angeles and Chicago, this weekend in a final push to expose the series to as many people as possible. (Episodes, originally rated TV-MA, will be edited for broadcast standards.)Universal Studio Group’s UCP produces “Gaslit” for Starz. And in a case of Comcast/NBCUniversal synergy, USG and UCP have turned to their sister NBC broadcast station unit for help.

K.J. Yossman Director James Marsh is set to direct a new hybrid animated documentary feature for Submarine and Sandpaper Films.“Oasis, Saving the Baghdad Zoo” (working title), is a feature-length animated documentary partly based on “Babylon’s Ark,” the book about a year-long rescue mission of animals abandoned across Baghdad by Saddam Hussein and his son Uday.Billed as a 21st century Noah’s Ark, the film will show how a team of American soldiers, Iraqi zookeepers, and international volunteers tended to lions, camels, bears, exotic birds, monkeys, pigs and even an ocelot in the middle of a brutal war, risking their own lives in the process.

Michael Schneider Variety Editor at LargeI’ve long banged the drum that television is better than film, yet even now, the TV industry still carries a bit of an inferiority complex.It’s why those of us who cover TV cringe at filmmakers who finally enter the episodic world — only to proclaim their series is actually a “10-episode movie.”It comes from decades of the small screen being seen as the stepping stone to true stardom and success in the movies. But of course, “prestige TV” has always been around, and it only intensified in the past two decades.The industry has itself to blame for playing second fiddle.For a long time, the Television Academy included a loophole in which Oscar doc contenders could turn around and try again for sloppy seconds at the Emmys — even though the Motion Picture Academy didn’t allow Emmy titles to do the same.

Jeff Bridges had no idea that his role as Dan Chase in the FX thriller "This Old Man" would pack a punch. The actor, who stars as a former CIA spy in the series, recalled how he played many of his fight scenes while fighting another real-life battle – cancer. "What makes me laugh, I’m doing this scene, all that fighting and I’ve got a 9-by-12 inch tumor in my body, taking those punches," the 72-year-old told The New York Times on Thursday.

Rosario Dawson is debuting her new, shorter hair!

EXCLUSIVE: Lisa Muse Bryant, who exec produced the second season of NBC’s Kenan, is staying in the NBCUniversal family.

amidst life-threatening battles with cancer (Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma) and COVID gives his performance an added edge.Bridges, 72, stars in the multi-layered spy drama aided by an A-list cast including Amy Brenneman, John Lithgow, Joel Grey and Alia Shawkat. It’s the first regular series role in his long acting career, which includes a 2010 Oscar (“Crazy Heart”) and dates back to the syndicated series “Sea Hunt” (1958-60), starring his late father, Lloyd Bridges (and in which Jeff appeared a handful of times).As the series opens we meet Dan Chase (Bridges), a creaky, crusty, 70something who lives alone with his two devoted Rottweilers, Dave and Carol, and putters around his house in upstate New York while dealing with the nagging, everyday effects of older age (frequent nighttime trips to the bathroom) and more serious issues — including a memory that’s not what it used to be.

Clayton Davis Variety Awards Circuit section is the home for all awards news and related content throughout the year, featuring the following: the official awards predictions for the upcoming Oscars and Emmys ceremonies, curated by Variety senior awards editor Clayton Davis; Awards Circuit Column, a weekly analysis dissecting the trends and contenders by television editor Michael Schneider (for Emmys) and Davis (for Oscars); Awards Circuit Podcast, a weekly interview series with talent and an expert roundtable discussion; and Awards Circuit Video analyzes various categories and contenders by Variety's leading awards pundits. Variety's unmatched coverage gives its readership unbeatable exposure in print and online, as well as provide inside reports on all the contenders in this year's awards season races.

EXCLUSIVE: John Morayniss’ Blink49 Studios has struck an overall deal with The Walking Dead: World Beyond co-exec producer Ben Sokolowski.

“The Old Man”Thursday, June 16 at 9 p.m., FXThis limited series has an ingenious, paperback thriller conceit (and, truth be told, it was based on a book of the same name by Thomas Perry) and a fine pedigree – it is Jeff Bridges’ first regular role on a television series and the first two episodes were directed by Jon Watts, whose last film was a little indie art house darling called “Spider-Man: No Way Home.” In the limited series Bridges plays a former spy who lives a sleepy life in New England with his dogs. When an assassin tries to kill him, he is forced out of retirement, pursued by various forces, including an FBI director played by John Lithgow.

th on a new deal for this visionary producer.

Warren Littlefield’s long winning streak continues: the former TV executive-turned-producer just signed a new, multiyear overall deal with 20th Television and ABC Signature.

Jeff Bridges is on the mend following his recent battle with cancer and a COVID-19 diagnosis. ET's Kevin Frazier spoke with Bridges at the premiere of his new FX series, , where he opened up about the film and shared an update on his health.«Feeling good,» Bridges said when asked how he's doing after being diagnosed with non-Hodgkins lymphoma in October 2020.While the 72-year-old actor said he's in remission now, he revealed that is was his battle with COVID that really «wiped» him out.«Cancer-wise, yeah remission, and COVID, you know, that made my cancer look like nothing, that COVID,» he shared.

The New York Times, his departure is not due to any behavioral issues. In a statement that pointedly does not acknowledge Rice’s years of service, Disney announced that Walden will become chairman of Disney General Entertainment Content, effective immediately.

Jeff Bridges stands tall above his two canine co-stars, Freya and Cain, at the premiere of their new FX on Hulu series, The Old Man, at the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures on Wednesday night (June 8) in Los Angeles.

William Earl The Variety & Sony Pictures Television Virtual FYC House, which captures the attention of TV awards voters, kicked off with a special preview night on June 1 featuring an exclusive “Power of Production” panel in-person on the Sony lot.The round table, moderated by Variety TV editor Michael Schneider, featured panelists Liz Friedman, executive producer, “The Good Doctor”; Chris Miller, executive producer, “The Afterparty”; Simon Racioppa, executive producer, “The Boys Presents: Diabolical”; Matthew B. Roberts, executive producer, “Outlander” and Gordon Smith, executive producer, “Better Call Saul.”The showrunners and executive producers responsible for bringing Sony Pictures Television’s roster of shows to screen unveiled how they position a show for ultimate success.