Beats 2023

With Series Mania 2023 coming to a close, the event’s founder and general director Laurence Herszberg announced the winners of the Series Mania Festival today. ”We would first like to thank the public and the professionals who attended this edition, which brought together more than 85,000 participants for the Festival and 3,800 participants from 64 countries for the Forum. We are delighted to announce our prize list and figures that have far exceeded our expectations,” said Herszberg. With the rise of streaming across the world, Series Mania has become one of the most attractive events in the global TV calendar. It’s largely looked at as a place where writers, distributors and producers can liase with each other in a less formal setting than compared to a TV sales market. It includes not just the festival, the Forum, key conferences, keynotes, and pitching sessions. This year the festival screened 54 unreleased series, with 32 world premieres and 10 international … [Read more...] about Series Mania Festival 2023 Winners Announced

Courtesy of ESPN/NCAA Ugly scene following an NCAA women's basketball game on Thursday night ... a Bowling Green State Univ. player was socked in the face in a handshake line. The sucker punch went down just seconds after BGSU beat Memphis, 73-60, in a round of 16 game in the women's NIT. Broadcast cameras showed Bowling Green's Elissa Brett got into some sort of argument with Memphis' Jamirah Shutes ... before Shutes reared back and threw a straight right at Brett's face. The punch connected flush -- sending Brett crashing to the court. Shutes was immediately restrained by her coach. Ugly ending to the night after Bowling Green’s Elissa Brett was hit by a Memphis player in the handshake line after the game. pic.twitter.com/9QLFdguB9f — Kurt Steiss ⚔️ (@kurtsteiss) March 24, 2023 @kurtsteiss Brett stayed down for several moments -- eventually bursting out into tears. She was, thankfully, ultimately able to walk off the court under her own power. … [Read more...] about BGSU Women’s Basketball Player Socked In Face In Handshake Line After WNIT Game

After snapping up the critically acclaimed Jonathan Majors movie Magazine Dreams out of Sundance, Searchlight has set a Dec. 8 theatrical release for the Elijah Bynum directed title; a date that’s right in line with the classics’ label previous awards season launches. Searchlight beat out Neon, Sony Pictures Classics and HBO for this fierce drama in which Majors portrays a disturbed amateur bodybuilder. The pic, which Bynum also scripted, follows Killian Maddox (Majors), who struggles to find human connection in this exploration of celebrity and violence. Nothing deters him from his fiercely protected dream of superstardom in the bodybuilding world, not even the doctors who warn him of the permanent damage he causes to himself with his quest. Taylour Paige and Haley Bennett also star in the movie along with Mike O’Hearn, Harrison Page and Harriet Sansom Harris. Jennifer Fox, Dan Gilroy, Jeffrey Soros and Simon Horsman produced. EPs are Majors, under his production banner … [Read more...] about Searchlight Sets December Release For Jonathan Majors Sundance Title ‘Magazine Dreams’

Getty Olivia Wilde scored a big victory in her battle with Jason Sudeikis over child custody and child support ... because TMZ has learned a judge has just rejected his request to have the case moved to New York. Jason waged war with Olivia, trying to remove the custody dispute from the California court ... New York is typically less generous with child support than Cali, but on Thursday New York magistrate Adele Alexis Harris handed down her decision ... "the Court finds that it is in the interest of substantial justice that the parties' child support petition be heard in California." Getty It's a huge but costly move for Olivia. The DailyMail obtained legal docs filed by Olivia Thursday and confirmed by TMZ, in which her lawyers say, "While Jason can afford to spin his wheels with filing after filing, Olivia cannot," adding, "Jason should not be permitted to litigate Olivia into debt." BTW, these docs were filed before the New York … [Read more...] about Olivia Wilde Wins Battle in Custody Fight with Jason Sudeikis

EXCLUSIVE: This is one iconic renewal. Vice TV has ordered six more seasons of Icons Unearthed, which will bring its anthology documentary series from the Nacelle Company through Season 10. After focusing on Star Wars, The Simpsons, the Fast & Furious franchise and the Marvel Cinematic Universe during its first four runs, Season 007 — or, rather, 5 — will have the James Bond movies in its crosshairs. The series’ MCU-centric fourth season launched March 7 on Vice. “We’ve had the opportunity to tell some incredible stories in Icons Unearthed , and to have six more seasons of storytelling coming up is a testament to how well the show has been received,” Nacelle Company CEO Brian Volk-Weiss said. “I hope we don’t disappoint.” Added Peter Gaffney, SVP Content Strategy & Programming Scheduling at Vice TV: “We’ve had so much fun working with Brian and the Nacelle team to tell these epic stories, and we are excited to continue the collaboration. … [Read more...] about ‘Icons Unearthed’ Scores Six-Season Renewal At Vice TV

Joe Goldberg’s story is coming to an end. Netflix has renewed You for a fifth season, which will be the the last chapter for the popular thriller from Warner Bros. Television and studio-based Berlanti Prods. Penn Badgley will be back, reprising his role as serial killer Joe (who could finally face justice), but there will be a behind-the-scenes change on the series, developed by Greg Berlanti and Sera Gamble based on the Alloy books by Caroline Kepnes. After serving as showrunner for the first four seasons, Gamble is stepping down to focus on other projects. You executive producers Michael Foley and Justin W. Lo , who have been on the series since Season 1 and Season 2, respectively, will succeed Gamble as co-showrunners. She remains involved in the show as an executive producer. Berlanti Prods.’ Greg Berlanti and Sarah Schechter called Gamble “the most brilliant writer and partner.” RELATED: TV Series Fading To Black In 2023 & Beyond: Photo Gallery Of … [Read more...] about ‘You’ Renewed For Fifth & Final Season By Netflix With New Co-Showrunners As Sera Gamble Steps Down

The announcement last week that the 2023 Billboard Music Awards will be held on Sunday, November 19, raised a few eyebrows because that had been the date earmarked for the 2023 American Music Awards . Both music award shows are produced by dick clark productions. A date for the 2023 AMAs has not been announced and it turns out, so hasn’t been a network. The AMAs have been an ABC staple; the show was created by Dick Clark in 1973 for the network when ABC’s contract to air the Grammy Awards expired. I hear ABC’s most recent deal for the AMAs ended with the November telecast, and no decision has been made about a contract renewal. “We have offers from both networks and streamers,” a spokesperson for DCP said in a statement. Aside from the marque Grammy Awards, the AMAs has been a reliable top ratings performer though networks have been rethinking their commitment to awards show amid declining linear viewing. NBC opted not to continue with the Billboard Music Awards … [Read more...] about American Music Awards’ Future At ABC Uncertain As Deal Comes To An End

EXCLUSIVE: D.K. Uzoukwu, Telma Hopkins , Jay Wilkison and Norah Murphy have joined the cast of Amazon Freevee ’s Clean Slate as series regulars. They join previously announced stars Laverne Cox and George Wallace. Clean Slate follows old-school and outspoken car wash owner Harry Slate (Wallace), who is thrilled his estranged child is finally returning home to Alabama after 17 years away. However, he has a lot of soul-searching to do when the child he thought was a son returns as the determined, proud, trans woman Desiree (Cox). Uzoukwu will play Louis, a closeted gay choir director at the local church who the older female congregants insist on trying to fix up. He’s a close childhood friend of Desiree, and the only person who gives her a genuinely heartfelt welcome home. Hopkins will play Ella, Louis’ mother, a no-nonsense jack-of-all-trades who has known Harry for much longer than either of them would like to admit. She lives with Louis and is fully aware … [Read more...] about Freevee’s ‘Clean Slate’ Adds D.K. Uzoukwu, Telma Hopkins, Jay Wilkison & Norah Murphy As Series Regulars

EXCLUSIVE: Kumail Nanjiani , Patton Oswalt , comedian James Acaster and Emily Alyn Lind have joined the cast of the live-action sequel to Sony Pictures’ hit film, Ghostbusters : Afterlife . Gil Kenan is directing, and the previous pic’s cast including Paul Rudd and Carrie Coon will return as the setting shifts to the original films’ New York City and firehouse. Jason Reitman , who directed the 2021 pic, will move into the writer-producer role alongside co-scribe Kenan and Jason Blumenfeld. Not much is known about the sequel, but sources say the plan is to return to New York City and the iconic firehouse made famous in the original Ghostbusters films. It is slated for a December 2023 release . It’s been a high priority for Sony to get a sequel in production after Ghostbusters: Afterlife, the latest sequel to the iconic 1984 film, became a hit with its November 2021 opening . Directed and co-written by Reitman, and executive produced and co-written by … [Read more...] about Kumail Nanjiani And Patton Oswalt Among Newest Additions To Cast Of ‘Ghostbusters: Afterlife’ Sequel

Twitter / @MrErnestOwens UPDATE 10:37 AM PT -- The man who everyone assumed shouted during Harry Styles ' acceptance speech is denying he was the heckler -- saying he simply caught an impassioned Beyoncé fan on camera. UPDATE ALSO: Cultural context matters. When Black folks say "I'm hollering," "I'm yelling" -- it's a reaction to something internally. — Ernest Owens (@MrErnestOwens) February 6, 2023 @MrErnestOwens UPDATE Ernest Owens says he was NOT the person heard screaming Bey's name -- despite posting a video with the caption, "Yes, I yelled" -- while Harry was on stage receiving his Grammy for Album of the Year. Here's how EO explains it on Twitter ... "ALSO: Cultural context matters. When Black folks say "I'm hollering," "I'm yelling" -- it's a reaction to something internally." UPDATE He adds, "Like when someone tells their friend who is cutting up, "Gurl, you got me yelling and screaming,' "I'm hollering" -- it's not literal. … [Read more...] about Beyoncé Fan Denies Screaming During Harry Styles’ AOTY Win