UTA and partner company Klutch Sports Group announced the opening of their Atlanta office today, setting up a full-service base of operations in the city for artists, athletes, musicians and brands with strong ties to the region. It’s located at 1401 Peachtree Street in the Midtown arts and business district, with a gallery on the lower floor. “Atlanta is a vibrant city for music, sports and arts, and there is a ripe opportunity to create another center of gravity for film and television,” said UTA CEO Jeremy Zimmer. “We are excited to bring our full range of services to the community of talented artists, athletes, musicians and creators who call the Southeast their home.” UTA Atlanta co-heads Steve Cohen and Rob Gibbs called the city “an entertainment and cultural hub.” “Planting our flag here gives us the ability to support clients with investments and opportunities across the city’s growing creative ecosystem,” they added. UTA will offer representation across … [Read more...] about UTA, Partner Klutch Sports Open Atlanta Office
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PR Firm DKC Opens Doors On New L.A. Headquarters
DKC , the public relations, digital communications and content production agency, has officially moved into its new West Coast headquarters in Century City. The firm, which specializes in music, TV, film, talent, consumer brands, culture, sports/esports, technology, social media, influencer and event production, spent the past 10 years in its offices in West Hollywood. The new offices, located on the ground floor at 1801 Century Park East, feature open-concept workspaces and multiple high-design meeting rooms. There is also a product showroom, viewing lounge, barista bar, 30-foot floor-to-ceiling glass walls and a landscaped outdoor terrace. The 6,021-square-foot space was built and designed from the ground up with input from the DKC teams. The L.A. team is led by executive director Wendy Zaas, with her group including EVP Ivy Mollenkamp heading the entertainment division focused on film, TV, music and production; EVP Taryn Owens overseeing the consumer brand … [Read more...] about PR Firm DKC Opens Doors On New L.A. Headquarters
Lionsgate Home Entertainment EVP Jed Grossman To Retire After Nearly Three Decades
EXCLUSIVE: Lionsgate Home Entertainment EVP Jed Grossman is set to retire this month after a nearly 30-year run at the studio. Grossman is highly regarded in his field, having served on a leadership team that has grown Lionsgate’s home entertainment operations into a billion-dollar annual revenue business. He helped shape the growth and evolution of Lionsgate’s home entertainment business from packaged media to today’s multifaceted physical and digital environment. “Jed has been a driving force in our home entertainment business for 30 years,” said Ron Schwartz, President of Global Licensing & Distribution, Motion Picture Group. “His strong relationships, deep understanding of the marketplace and focus on the consumer has been instrumental in our growth in both the packaged media and digital worlds. We thank him for his many contributions to Lionsgate. He is a valued partner, a respected executive and a good friend who reflects our business at its best, and he will be … [Read more...] about Lionsgate Home Entertainment EVP Jed Grossman To Retire After Nearly Three Decades
UK Asian Film Festival Sets Programme For 25th Anniversary Edition
EXCLUSIVE: The UK Asian Film Festival celebrates its 25th anniversary this year, and today, Deadline can share the official lineup for the jubilee edition, running at venues across the UK from May 4 — 14. The running theme for this year’s edition is ‘Celebrating Our Stories,’ which will see the festival screen a series of films that center on the British Asian experience. The festival will open with the UK Premiere of the Hindi-language pic Sanaa at BFI Southbank. The film follows the eponymous Sanaa, a 28-year-old financial advisor working in Mumbai, who discovers she is pregnant. Clear on her decision to terminate her pregnancy, the process of getting the abortion forces Sanaa to re-evaluate her life and if the choices she has been making have really been her own. Lead actor Radhika Madan ( Pataakha ) and director Sudhanshu Saria ( Loev ) will attend the screening. The festival’s closing gala takes place on May 13 at the Kiln Theatre in North West London with the … [Read more...] about UK Asian Film Festival Sets Programme For 25th Anniversary Edition
Jay Ellis Sets True-Crime Podcast ‘Freeway Phantom’ & Plans Scripted Series
EXCLUSIVE : The story of the murder of six Black girls in the Washington, D.C. area in the 1970s is to be turned into a podcast and scripted series. Jay Ellis , who starred in Top Gun: Maverick and HBO’s Insecure , is behind both projects. The podcast series, Freeway Phantom , will launch May 17. It comes from Ellis’ Black Bar Mitzvah, Tenderfoot TV and iHeartPodcasts and is hosted by public radio veteran Celeste Headlee. It will tell the story of how Carol Spinks, Darlenia Johnson, Brenda Crockett, Nenomoshia Yates, Brenda Woodard and Diane Williams were murdered between 1971-1972 and discarded alongside D.C. highways. The killer taunted police with a chilling note claiming responsibility, and terrorized victims’ families with calls to their homes. Five decades later, their killer has never been brought to justice. Freeway Phantom will share the stories of the six victims and explore new evidence that could crack the cold cases wide open. Headlee has … [Read more...] about Jay Ellis Sets True-Crime Podcast ‘Freeway Phantom’ & Plans Scripted Series
‘Top Gun: Maverick’ Star Jay Ellis To Host Smithsonian Channel’s ‘How Did They Build That?’
EXCLUSIVE : Smithsonian Channel has landed itself a top gun. Jay Ellis , who plays Lieutenant Reuben Fitch in the Tom Cruise hit Top Gun: Maverick , has signed on to host the second season of the Paramount Global-owned network’s unscripted series How Did They Build That? The ten-part series explores some of the most incredible feats of engineering from around the world. It will be fronted by Ellis, who also starred in HBO’s Insecure . The move marks a step up for the docuseries, which did not have a host in its first season. Season two will continue to cover architectural wonders from all over the world but will have an emphasis on American stories and deconstruct some of the United States’ most amazing structures, including Hearst Tower, Little Island, National Museum of African American History and Culture, Denver Art Museum, Evergreen Point 520 Floating Bridge International stories include La Tete Carree (France) the Guggenheim (Spain) and The … [Read more...] about ‘Top Gun: Maverick’ Star Jay Ellis To Host Smithsonian Channel’s ‘How Did They Build That?’
Aaron Sorkin Had Stroke Last November Before ‘Camelot’ Rehearsals: “A Loud Wake-Up Call” For Lifelong Smoker
Aaron Sorkin , whose adaptation of the musical Camelot opens on Broadway next month, has revealed that he suffered a stroke last November. “Mostly it was a loud wake-up call,” Sorkin said in an interview with The New York Times . “I thought I was one of those people who could eat whatever he wanted, smoke as much as he wanted, and it’s not going to affect me. Boy, was I wrong.” The West Wing creator and To Kill A Mockingbird adapter has largely recovered from the incident, which he says occurred in November two months before Camelot rehearsals were scheduled to begin. Sorkin says he woke up one night and, on his way to the kitchen, stumbled into walls. The next morning he noticed he was having difficulty holding his orange juice without spilling. After a doctor visit that day, he was told his blood pressure was so high that he was “supposed to be dead.” The 61-year-old Sorkin slurred his words and had difficulty typing for a month, but his only lingering … [Read more...] about Aaron Sorkin Had Stroke Last November Before ‘Camelot’ Rehearsals: “A Loud Wake-Up Call” For Lifelong Smoker
‘A Good Person’ Review: Florence Pugh In Zach Braff’s Blunt And Honest Drama
A wily old pro teams up with one of the most exciting young actresses of the day in the emotionally loaded drama A Good Person . Zach Braff ’s third feature excels at taking the measure of how people cope with personal tragedy and does so in a vital and engaging way that’s far more invigorating than depressing. Braff essentially makes one feature film every 10 years ( Garden State and Wish I Was Here came before), and while he otherwise busies himself with music, television and other pursuits, his talent is such that you’d like to see him wade more frequently and deeper into film work than he so far has. This may be melodrama, but it’s melodrama of a pretty high order, one that benefits from a first-rate cast led by Florence Pugh and Morgan Freeman , and shifts tones and moods that startle with their bluntness and honesty; that raucous laughs emerge from such an upsetting story is a testament to the filmmaker’s daring and dexterity. The film wrestles bravely … [Read more...] about ‘A Good Person’ Review: Florence Pugh In Zach Braff’s Blunt And Honest Drama
The Jim Henson Company And Marblemedia To Shine Light On Neurodivergent Children In Miklos Perlus Comedy ‘Felix’
EXCLUSIVE: The Jim Henson Company and Marblemedia are using comedy to put children’s mental health under the microscope. The pair has teamed on Felix , a live-action comedy about a boy, his family and his ‘feels’ — five original characters created by Fraggle Rock and Guillermo Del Toro’s Pinocchio maker Jim Henson’s Creature Shop that manifest his larger-than-life emotions. The emotions live in his house, follow him to school and eat his snacks, but once he joins a school for neurodivergent kids, he learns to live with them. The ten-part series was created by Miklos Perlus and inspired by his neurodivergent son. It will run to ten parts and aim to “break new ground by debunking the stereotypes and stigmatisation around neurodiversity and mental health challenges among children.” No network is attached at this stage. Co-producers Jim Henson and Marblemedia previously teamed for live-action preschool series Hi Opie! in 2014 and its spin-off, Opie’s Home … [Read more...] about The Jim Henson Company And Marblemedia To Shine Light On Neurodivergent Children In Miklos Perlus Comedy ‘Felix’
Shohei Ohtani Celebrates Japan’s World Baseball Classic Title With Beer Showers
Instagram / @wbcbaseball Forget the champagne and cigars ... Shohei Ohtani turned to Budweisers to celebrate winning the World Baseball Classic -- getting soaked in the beer in an epic locker room celebration with Team Japan!! The party all went down at LoanDepot Park in Miami late Tuesday night ... after the Angels superstar helped lift his home country to a 3-2 victory over USA. MUST SEE! pic.twitter.com/8ln13dH3fC — FOX Sports: MLB (@MLBONFOX) March 22, 2023 @MLBONFOX Just after he struck out his L.A. teammate, Mike Trout , to lock down the W ... he and the rest of Japan's roster hit the locker room -- and cracked open Bud Heavy after Bud Heavy after Bud Heavy. Check out footage from the scene ... Ohtani and the guys doused each other with the beer -- and loved every second of it. There did appear to be at least some champagne in the mix, too, and there were plenty of smiles and dancing. Even St. Louis Cardinals star Lars Nootbaar could … [Read more...] about Shohei Ohtani Celebrates Japan’s World Baseball Classic Title With Beer Showers