Illara football player

IMAGN Jessie Lemonier -- a former outside linebacker for the Detroit Lions -- has passed away, the team announced Thursday morning. He was only 25 years old. Details surrounding Lemonier's death are not yet known. The Lions broke the sad news with a statement, saying they're "shocked and saddened" by Lemonier's death. "Jessie was a model teammate and wonderful young man who is gone far too soon," the team said on social media. Getty "Our thoughts and prayers are with his family and friends during this difficult time." Many paid their respects to the late Lions player in the comments ... including Denver Broncos quarterback Russell Wilson who shared the post with praying hand emojis. Lemonier was an undrafted free agent out of Liberty University ... where he became the third player in Flames history to record 10 or more sacks in a season. The Los Angeles Chargers picked him up after the 2020 NFL Draft and … [Read more...] about Former Detroit Lions Linebacker Jessie Lemonier Dead At 25

French studio Pathé and film and TV financier and producer Logical Pictures have announced a three-year co-production and co-financing deal. The operation involving Logical Content Ventures, a new fund operated by Logical Pictures, will see Pathé open up the financing of its films to private investors for the first time in its history. Under the deal with Pathé, Logical Content Ventures will contribute to the financing of all films produced and acquired by Pathé between 2022 and 2024. The aim is to co-finance and co-produce more than 20 pictures together with the first projects being released as soon as Spring 2023. The first films included in the agreement are Dany Boon’s Life for Real (Pathé – 26DB Productions), Just Philippot’s environmental thriller Acid (Pathé – Bonne Pioche), starring Canet and Laetitia Dosch, and Kirill Serebrennikov’s English feature debut Limonov: the Ballad of Eddie (Pathé – Chapter 2 – Wildside – Fremantle) starring Ben Whishaw. … [Read more...] about Pathé & Logical Pictures Team On Slate Financing Deal As French Studio Targets Big Budget Local & European Tentpoles

The Berlinale ’s European Film Market was the last major physical market to take place in 2020 as the world began shutting down because of the Covid-19 pandemic. The virus would force the event online in 2021 and 2022. The EFM’s traditional home of the Gropius Bau looked strangely empty last February, playing host to an exhibition by South African artist Zanele Muholi, as the event unfolded online alongside a scaled-down physical festival. Its vast atrium and halls are set to be packed with hundreds of stands and thousands of professionals once again this year for EFM’s 2023 edition, running February 16-22. Both the Gropius Bau and the market’s other key exhibition space of the Marriott Hotel are already fully booked. “The good news for us is that we are completely at the same level in terms of accreditations as we were at this time of the year in 2020. This means that we are forecast to reach the same amount of market participants,” EFM director Dennis Ruh . As … [Read more...] about Berlin’s EFM Boss Reveals Size Of U.S. & Asia Contingents, Talks Growing Importance Of TV

Stubborn and iconoclastic as always, Jean-Luc Godard has passed to another realm –and by his own choice–at age 91. Ever impudent and exasperating, forever pushing boundaries but remaining elusive, and an artist in every fiber of his being, Godard always did exactly what he wanted to do; for a few years many followed him ardently, and for lots of us in the 1960s he led the way into a vastly exciting and personal form of cinema. Thereafter he went entirely his own way, losing most of his audience but remaining at the forefront of exploring what cinema is, could be, and, sometimes, what it absolutely shouldn’t be. The official obituaries and tributes will certainly convey Godard’s importance and influence through the 1960s, the way he helped liberate cinema from its literary and orderly appearance to something far more energized, unexpected, jarring and often exhilarating. Although Godard consumed and brilliantly wrote about the existing cinema as a young critic, he … [Read more...] about Godard Is Gone: A Remembrance Of The Stubborn & Iconoclastic Film Director

TMZ.com Kelsea Ballerini and Chase Stokes are hanging out in her home state ... and we've got them looking cute and getting flirty on date night. The country music singer and "Outer Banks" star went out Tuesday night in Nashville, hitting up Robert's Western World for a little bit of live music with their dinner. We got this video of Kelsea and Chase sitting face to face at a table ... and he leans in to whisper in her ear before putting his hand on top of hers. Fair to say, things are moving along for the new couple. TMZ.com Folks who were there say it was clear they were enjoying each other's company over an appetizer -- no kissing or any other heavy PDA, but they were vibing, chatting and generally getting along well. Sounds like this could've been one stop on a night of honky-tonkin' in downtown Nashville ... because they were only at Robert's for about 30 minutes before they left. TMZ.com TMZ broke the story ... Chase … [Read more...] about Kelsea Ballerini and Chase Stokes Hold Hands in Date Night Video

With advertising trends front and center for Wall Street and industry players in the current crop of media earnings , Comcast’s NBC Universal was one of the first to weigh in. NBCU CEO Jeff Shell said the market steadily  worsened over the course of last year but “it kind of feels like it bottomed out around late November, early December, and really since then it hasn’t gotten worse, and maybe even a little better.” He said he’d describe it as a “shallow” market with areas “that are better, actually really doing well, like pharma, entertainment, travel is on fire” and other that “feel uncertain” like weak tech, auto and financial services. Speaking on a post-earnings conference call, he said it feels like the weakness is due more to macroeconomic uncertainty than to businesses not doing well. “None of us know where the economy is headed, so advertisers are holding back, and when they do advertise, they are coming in later than usual. He predicted the market “is … [Read more...] about NBCU’s Jeff Shell Says Ad Market May Have “Bottomed Out”

NBCUniversal CEO Jeff Shell said the company is always eyeing possible deals to bolster its business, citing the $3.8 billion acquisition of DreamWorks Animation in 2016 and Universal’s partnership with Blumhouse Productions . Shell jumped in Thursday after Comcast president Mike Cavanagh noted new deals have a high hurdle versus investing in existing operations. The execs were asked about M&A on a post-earnings conference call, with particular reference to World Wrestling Entertainment. Vince McMahon, WWE ’s majority owner and newly returned executive chairman, is looking to sel l, with Comcast considered a logical buyer. WWE Network programming has been popular on Peacock and helped drive subscriber acquisitions since the service took exclusive U.S. streaming rights in 2021. Shell didn’t address WWE but said the conglom led by Brian Roberts would be opportunistic. And with a market cap of $6.45 billion, WWE is not a mega-deal. “We are always looking … [Read more...] about NBCU Chief Jeff Shell Says Comcast Open To “Bolt-On” Deals, Cites DreamWorks Animation Acquisition, Blumhouse Venture

EXCLUSIVE: WME has promoted Amanda Hacohen and Abe Cohen Hoffing to Partner in the Scripted Television department. Hacohen focuses on representing writers, directors, comedians, and growing companies for comedy creators such as Greg Daniels and Mike Judge (Bandera Entertainment), Andrew Goldberg (Brutus Pink), Rob McElhenney (More Better Productions), David Wain, and John Hamburg. Hacohen also signed Saturday Night Live breakout talent Please Don’t Destroy – a comedy trio consisting of Ben Marshall, John Higgins and Martin Herlihy – whose film, produced by Judd Apatow will premiere this summer. Other clients include Anna Drezen ( SNL , Praise Petey ), Punkie Johnson ( SNL ), Joel Kim Booster ( Fire Island , Loot ), Byron Wu (The Brothers Sun), Nicole Byer ( Grand Crew , Nailed It ), and Shiva Baby writer/director Emma Seligman and actor/writer Rachel Sennott, whose sophomore film Bottoms premieres this spring. Hacohen continues to be based in the … [Read more...] about WME Promotes Amanda Hacohen, Abe Cohen Hoffing to Partner In Scripted TV Department

SPOILER ALERT! This story contains details from the Season 2 finale of HBO Max’s Gossip Girl . It was never supposed to end this way. HBO Max ‘s Gossip Girl took its final bow on Thursday as the Season 2 finale hit the streamer. Since news of the show’s cancellation broke last week, the episode now also serves as a series finale. Showrunner Josh Safran told Deadline that he’s holding on to a glimmer of hope that the series might land at a new home, but he’s had an inkling for months that this might happen, considering the growing number of streaming cancellations and Gossip Girl ‘s hefty price tag. “I asked HBO Max if I actually could go back in [to the episode]. I had the idea to take some of the cliffhangers out, because there were a lot of cliffhangers,” Safran said. “We got the editorial team back together. I went in and I lifted a bunch of stuff, I changed as much as I could. I couldn’t do as much as I wanted, because I couldn’t re-shoot anything, … [Read more...] about ‘Gossip Girl’ Boss Josh Safran Explains How He Re-Shaped The Season 2 Closer As A Series Finale & What He Had Planned For Season 3

NBCUniversal CEO Jeff Shell said execs at the company and parent Comcast are “more confident” than they were a year or two ago that investments in streaming service Peacock will soon yield profits. How soon remains a bit unclear, however. “We’ve been clear from the start that we’re going to see a return on that investment — I think we feel better about that now based on where we are,” Shell said during Comcast’s fourth-quarter earnings call. The company said Peacock had passed 20 million subscribers by the end of 2022, more than double its size at the start of the year. It added 5 million subscribers in the quarter thanks to Spanish-language World Cup coverage as well as original programming, other live sports and the addition of first-window movie titles and NBC and Bravo series that used to go to Hulu. Over the rest of the year, CEO Brian Roberts said, “subscriber cadence will follow content launches, which will fall more heavily in the second half of 2023” than … [Read more...] about NBCUniversal And Comcast Execs “More Confident” Than They Were A Year Ago In Peacock Profit Outlook, Jeff Shell Says