What the Variety Staff Is Thankful for in Entertainment in 2020

Todd Spangler NY Digital EditorInvincible Entertainment Partners, an independent production and distribution company, has acquired Business Rockstars — a producer of video programming featuring CEOs and entrepreneurs — for $20 million in stock.Thom Beers and Steve Lehman, both longtime media execs and principal partners of Business Rockstars, sold the company to Invincible.

Amon Warmann Guest ContributorIn any year, Steve McQueen’s “Small Axe” would be a historic achievement.

Peter Debruge Chief Film Critic“Education.” That’s as good a title as any for the final episode of Steve McQueen’s “Small Axe” project — a series of five features, some little more than an hour, designed to educate and inform audiences about the experience of London’s West Indian immigrant population, about the expectations of assimilation raised by a white-majority country and the obstacles such a society puts in the way of that goal.To get the picture, audiences needn’t see every entry of

I was born with a speech impediment. For years, I received speech therapy in special education.

Steph McGovern raised eyebrows on Wednesday when she opened up about the rejection letter she received from Oxford University following an unsuccessful interview.MORE: Steph McGovern's daily diet: what the TV presenter eats for breakfast, lunch and dinnerSpeaking on her daytime show Steph's Packed Lunch, the journalist explained that she earned top A-level grades, however, was "the only one" out of her peers who attended an interview at the prestigious university without knowing what she was

The “first” awards show of what will be a very long Oscar season, the Gotham Awards, already announced their 2020 nominees last month. While “First Cow” and “I May Destroy You” topped the list of nominees, two tributes were also revealed for both Chadwick Boseman and Viola Davis.

With anticipated films delayed, theaters closed, and festivals canceled or refurbished to virtual affairs, there has been little in big, prestigious movie events for audiences to rally around in 2020. Steven McQueen‘s five-film anthology series “Small Axe” may be as close to a buzz-worthy event as we’ll get in the current movie climate.

I was born with a speech impediment. For years, I received speech therapy in special education.

Roddy Ricch, who has enjoyed as good a past 12 months as any 22-year-old rapper could imagine. He won his first Grammy in January, for his appearance on Nipsey Hussle’s “Racks in the Middle,” and he just racked up six nominations for next year’s ceremony.

One of 2020’s few joys has been Steve McQueen’s Amazon anthology “Small Axe,” a series telling, in some instances for the first time, the stories of the Black Brits who faced oppression during the ’60s and ’70s. While “Mangrove” touted empowerment through self-representation, “Lovers Rock” through music, and “Red, White and Blue” through reform from within, “Alex Wheatle” calls for literature as a gateway to freedom.

This late fall has been a treat because we’ve received a new Steve McQueen (“12 Years A Slave,” “Widows“) week every week for the last three weeks; when does that happen? And they are all part of McQueen’s new five-film anthology series, “Small Axe,” based on the Jamaican proverb, “If you are the big tree, we are the small axe.” Three films have debuted at the New York Film Festival earlier this fall, and those three have now aired on Amazon Prime Video.

Scott Stapp’s voice is a big source of humour for his kids.

For most people, “thankful” isn’t the word that comes to mind when describing our feelings about the year 2020.

Steve Carell plays Santa Claus leading an elf reinvention of Christmas in The Greatest Gift, the latest long-form ad for Xfinity TV and broadband.